Exitosa en Español

With the year wrapping up, the Spanish department starts to wrap up another successful year.  The Spanish 3 and 4 department have had an exciting year here at Fair Grove. 

Taught by Mrs. Thornton, who has been teaching Spanish for 14 years, the Spanish department has made a lot of progress this year. Possibly the hardest challenge of the year was the A.A.P.P.L. (Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages) test. The A.A.P.P.L. test assesses students’ proficiency in their ability to communicate, speak, write, and listen in Spanish. 

“The A.A.P.P.L. test is pretty challenging, but the hardest part about it is that it takes a toll on you mentally. I definitely run out of motivation to finish the test before I run out of vocab or grammar,” explained Reese Wells (10). 

Charlie Harp (11) said, “It felt harder and more stressful at the time when I was taking it, but I ended up almost getting the seal of biliteracy, which was really cool because last year I wasn’t even close.” It’s clear that the students’ hard work and dedication has paid off with visible results. 

Mrs. Thornton really enjoys her Spanish students, and loves seeing them all grow in language. “I am always proud when students use the language outside the classroom. We also volunteered recently at an event with Grupo Latinoamericano in Springfield, and it was very fun to see our students interacting with native speakers and taking time out of their busy schedules to contribute to our community in a positive way,” said Mrs. Thornton.

Spanish isn’t always sitting in the classroom reading out of a textbook, in fact, the Spanish department is very involved in the community and often practices applying their skills in real world situations. Harp’s favorite activity from this past year was when the Spanish classes went to MSU for a Dia de Muertos celebration. “We all saw cool presentations and played some games,” explained Harp. 

“Spanish is a super fun class that can be stressful at the same time and Mrs. Thornton always finds ways to make the material interesting to say the least,” said Wells. Mrs. Thornton urges all students to give Spanish a try, saying, “It is the perfect time to learn a new skill that will serve you regardless of what happens in your next season of life. Students who commit to Spanish at Fair Grove can expect to actually know how to speak the language when they leave the program, and that door can open doors socially, in careers, and for travel, too.”