Thank-you Students, Parents and STAPLES!

Thanks to the generous donations of empty ink-jet and laser printer cartridges last semester by parents and students, Mr. Richard Lawhead, department chairperson, was able to purchase a basket-full of supplies ($200 +) for the World Languages Department before the beginning of the new school year.  The good news is that, due to the quantity of cartridges recycled there is still more money available and teachers will be able to submit a second wish-list after the first department meeting of the year on August 29th.  Thank-you to all you students and parents who helped!

Last-Day Luncheon with World Languages

Almost all of the World Languages Dept. were present at the Last-Day Luncheon held at the Officer's Club at MCAS Miramar.  Beverages, lunch, good prizes, hilarious videos and, most importantly, a chance to be with each other one more time before summer takes us all to different places.  From left to right:  Janice Trott-Spanish, Richard Lawhead-Spanish, Alex Blackwelder-Japanese, Debbie Redelings-ASL, Miriam Ranzolin-ASL, Mike McVeigh-Spanish, Christine Leidhoff-French, Andrés Bañuelos-Spanish, Janelle Gans-ASL.  Julie Jacbson-Spanish, not present.

At this point, nobody knows what September will bring, but we hope that it brings all of us back together.  Have a wonderful summer!

Spanish 5-6 students share projects

Señor Lawhead's Spanish 5-6 classes shared their Fantasy Scrapbook Projects with each other in all classes last Monday.  Students were randomly split up into groups and shared, in Spanish, the fantasy lives as illustrated by the albums.  With the rigor of final exams looming, it was a fun and interesting activity!

It's the silly season

For a bit of levity... here is Mr. McVeigh being pranked by Mrs. Redelings on the next-to-last day of regular classes.  It was payback, she says!

"Fantasy Scrapbook" projects continue

Señor Lawhead continues to be delighted with the quality and fun of the "Fantasy Scrapbooks" of his Spanish 5-6 students.  Here is Jenn's scrapbook and autobiography of her life as a giraffe!

"Bilingualism fine-tunes hearing, enhances attention'

Dr. Julie Jacobson shared excerpts from research done by Northwestern University.  Northwestern News:

The researchers found the experience of bilingualism changes how the nervous system responds to sound.

"People do crossword puzzles and other activities to keep their minds sharp," Marina said.  "But the advantages we've discovered in dual language speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages.  It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound. "Bilingualism serves as enrichment for the brain and has real consequences when it comes to executive function, specifically attention and working memory," said Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor at Northwestern's School of Communication.  In future studies, she and Marian will investigate whether these advantages can be achieved by learning a language later in life." The bilingual's enhanced experience with sound results in an auditory system that is highly efficient, flexible and focused in its automatic sound processing, especially in challenging or novel listening conditions."  The World Languages Department certainly agrees!

Este Corazón

Students in Profe Bañuelos' Spanish 3-4 class learned the lyrics and sung the romantic heartbreak song "Este Corazón" by RBD. They were split in to boys and girls sections because the music had separate parts for boys and girls, as well as parts they sang together. Featured singing in the videos is the 2nd period class. A fun time was had by all. Good times!

Busy days in Spanish!

Sr. McVeigh's Spanish 5-6 classes are enjoying the end of their unit on food. After creating menus and designing their own restaurants, students are now creating videos or posters, outlining the steps necessary to prepare their favorite dishes. Spanish 7-8 students have been reviewing for the upcoming final exam with a variety of activities. We've watched commercials from around the Spanish-speaking world, seen BBC Mundo news programs, and even edited Spanish tweets! After the AP Exam on May 8th, AP students are ending the year with South American literature. We've read stories by Gabriel García Márquez and are now working with Julio Cortázar.

Sra. Ranzolín returns!

Students and staff are happy to welcome back Sra. Ranzolín after a 6-week leave of absence.  She admits to being a bit tired at the end of the day but is busy preparing students for their end-of-course exam in just two weeks.  That's right students!  Just two weeks!

おめでとうございます (Congratulations!)

Mr. Blackwelder, Japanese teacher, and the World Languages Department are proud to acknowledge the accomplishments of the following students who won top honors in the National Japanese Exam: 
Kathy Huynh, silver certificate;
María Rendón, bronze certificate
Shannen Alday, bronze certificate 
These young ladies bring honor to our school, the World Languages Department and Mr. Blackwelder's Japanese program!