April 26, 2006 Source: :
http://www.wlu.ca/news_update.php?grp_id=28&nws_id=1687&filter_type=update High school students head to Laurier to experience Spanish culture Students from Waterloo Region high schools will experience Spanish culture—as well as student life at Laurier and the university’s Spanish program—this Friday. The students will be on campus participating in a unique outreach program developed by Laurier’s Department of Languages & Literatures to reinforce the university’s ties to area high-school teachers and promote the teaching and learning of the Spanish language. "It’s been a very successful initiative," say’s Dr. Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts, who created the Spanish Outreach Program five years ago. "It gives us a profile with high-school teachers and it’s an excellent way for us to foster communication and reach out to the community. "Students get to know the university. They become familiar with our faculties and professors and see Laurier as a university where they’d like to study." The program was developed with area language teachers. "We met with area high-school teachers to discuss curriculum issues, teaching methodology and pedagogical material," says Rowinsky-Geurts. Initially she took the program to the area’s schools; last year she decided to expand the program and bring the students to Laurier for a one-day immersion in Spanish culture and life at university. The students took part in a friendly competitions modelled on the popular TV show "The Amazing Race," with challenges and clues (in Spanish, of course) and awards for the teams that finishes first, second and third. They also enjoyed cultural presentations, salsa lessons and a live concert by the group Trio Latino, sampled Spanish cuisine, discussed university life with Laurier students, toured the campus and learned more about the university’s programs and resources. The program was a hit with both the students and teachers. Gail Harper, head of languages at Waterloo’s Bluevale Collegiate Institute, says her students gained valuable experience through the Spanish Outreach Program. "My students had been asking about what university Spanish was like—would they be able to understand the profs, would the study of Spanish be too difficult, would they be lost before they got started," says Harper. "I believe that this day at Laurier went a long way to calm their fears." "The diverse range of activities is both stimulating and creative," adds Lianne Chumley, a French and Spanish teacher at Grand River Collegiate Institute in Kitchener. "All of my students said they had an amazing time and couldn’t wait to go back again next year." "This event has been valuable not only from a linguistic and cultural perspective," wrote the Grade 11 Spanish class at Elmira District Secondary School, "but it has also afforded us the occasion to view the campus, have first-hand experience in a university class, and to discuss our own education paths with students presently enrolled in university." Laurier is already seeing the benefits of the program, with participants from previous years choosing to study at Laurier. For more information about the Spanish Outreach Program, contact Rowinsky-Geurts at mrowinsk@wlu.ca. Public Affairs
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