From left, Indiana University Indianapolis Director of the Spanish Resource Center Juan Lago, sixth-grader Cecilia King, sixth-grader Parker Sale and Spanish Embassy representative Diego Blázquez hold Eisenhower Elementary School’s ISA designation certificate.

Photos and Text
By Madison Hart
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The Embassy of Spain’s Ministry of Education representative Diego Blázquez presented a certificate to Eisenhower Elementary School officials at an International Spanish Academy designation ceremony on Monday, Oct. 7.

“With English and Spanish, you will be able to communicate with almost everybody in the world,” said Blázquez when he presented the ISA certification, along with a Spanish flag.

Eisenhower Elementary School became the fifth school in Indiana to receive the ISA designation. Dual Language Immersion Coach Crystal Kreider said that the DLI track allows students starting in kindergarten to receive half of their education in Spanish and half in English.

Leesburg Elementary School and Lakeview Middle School also have DLI programs. According to Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent, Dr. David Hoffert, the school district is working to continue the DLI program at Warsaw High School. Once implemented, freshmen students will take the AP Spanish test and then continue on with higher-level Spanish college courses. By the end of high school, Hoffert estimates that students will be only a few credits shy of having a college minor in Spanish.

Hoffert thanked all the educators that made the program possible, and he also shared that his own son is a student in the program.

Two sixth-grade students spoke at the ceremony, sharing what the DLI program means to them. Parker Sale said that learning Spanish will help him in his future career as a doctor so he can help more patients. Cecilia King said learning a language creates empathy and will help in her future career as a lawyer.

“It’s useful to make friends,” said Victoria Valera, a visiting teacher through the Embassy of Spain who is in her third year of teaching at Eisenhower. “Sometimes we have foreign students in the class and it’s a way to meet them and interact in the first few weeks … Another thing I learned is on summer vacation, they use Spanish when they go to a Hispanic country. They can help someone with something, and then they feel proud that they are the one of the family who can help.”

“The more they own it, the more they’re motivated, and motivation makes a huge difference in language learning,” said Kreider.