The problem I am trying to solve is increasing the accessibility of learning Spanish for kids in my local town. Although learning another language is a part of the school curriculum, it isn’t until the seventh grade that students can do this. Many students have shown a great interest in learning another language at a much younger age and my goal is to provide them with the opportunity to be able to. The class at Deerfield, Spanish 4 with Community Service, has inspired me to take on a more prominent role beyond the classroom to help my community.
My role in this is to be a teacher and to engage students in learning. While learning something new can be fun, it can also get difficult and boring at times. For this reason, I have decided to incorporate parts of Spanish culture but specifically a cooking aspect. By introducing students to another side of a language, I hope that they will want to seek out and do more with what they have learned. To find students eager to learn I’ve decided to work with the JCC in Springfield, MA and the West Springfield Boys and Girls Club. The general age range of students I will be teaching is 4-11 and my various lesson plans will be accustomed to each age group.
The overall goal is to introduce students to the basics of Spanish which will make them excited to learn more. I hope that students will gain knowledge in various basic vocab words and will be able to have simple conversations in Spanish. I also hope that through the culture they learn about, students are eager to learn not only more about Spanish culture but also about the various other cultures that surround us every day.
-Hasini ’24