BRIDGEPORT – Students at Christine Malone’s Introduction to Spanish enrichment course got to try out their lessons during a Nov. 5 field trip for lunch at Tlaquepaque Mexican Grill & Restaurant at Ohio at Valley Plaza Drive in St. Clairsville. The students would greet servers and place their lunch orders in Spanish, experiencing the benefits of knowing another language.
Formed last school year when the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District revamped the schedule to allow for added flex periods, the enrichment courses are offered at Bridgeport Middle School to get more in-depth learning about science, history, life skills and more.
Eighth grader Xander has been to Tlaquepaque before, but this was his first time ordering in Spanish.
“It was a really cool experience to go to and try and use my Spanish speaking skills and stretch that into public speaking,” he said.
The students are also broadening their horizons and appreciating Hispanic culture. Hispanic Heritage Month was celebrated Sept. 15-Oct. 15, with a focus on different Spanish-speaking countries in the classroom.
“We did an entire study,” Xander said.
Malone is proud of her students’ progress.
“Everything has gone really, really well. It’s been a beyond positive experience with the feedback from the students. They’re engaged. They enjoy being in the class. They love learning a new language.”
When the district initiated the enrichment courses, Malone saw an opportunity to give students an early introduction to another language prior to high school and college, when they would normally take the classes.
“I chose to do Spanish just because I have an extensive background in it,” she said. The course was also a venue for students to use Spanish in different situations.
“I was trying to show how it can relate to real life and how they can use it. We thought it would be a good idea to take them to Tlaquepaque so they could order in Spanish and sample traditional Mexican dishes and let them experience being in a group social setting and work on their one-on-one communications.”
Malone thanks Principal Anne Haverty Lawson for arranging a bus ride for the 26 students and the school district for paying for the meal.
“The kids were super excited about that. I gave them all the lunch menus, so we practiced ordering in Spanish. They were front-loaded with lots of information. We would practice, and they all had it down pat,” she said.
“We would role play. I would ask them in Spanish what the order was and they had to respond correctly.”
She said the eighth graders researched different selections and their pronunciation.
“They were all able to go above and beyond and clearly order in Spanish. The wait staff at Tlaquepaque were all wonderful,” she said.
“We’re going to continue learning about how to order food in Spanish and delving into that deeper so they can see the real-life applications, because I’m trying to get them to see the bigger picture,” she said. “There’s more to the world than just Belmont County.”
Malone said they are looking forward to more projects that will explore aspects of Spanish culture and allow them to apply the language, such as creating a family tree in Spanish.
She pointed out the advantage of students building a foundation of Spanish before they have the option to take courses later.
“They’re more familiar with the vocabulary and they’ve at least been exposed to it, so they’re not completely overwhelmed when they take it in high school.”
