Historical March 1995 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Beginning this year, classes in introductory Spanish are being offered at St. Roch’s Pre-School and in 7th and 8th grade classes in the regular school. Introducing Spanish to preschoolers is part of an extensive pre-school curriculum at St. Roch’s. Twice a week, Georgi Fox, a neighbor at 61xx McPherson, arrives before 9:00 a.m. to teach Spanish words to the very young students.
They have learned the colors, parts of the body, and common greetings.
They greet these lessons with great enthusiasm and answer with accuracy. Fox thoroughly enjoys this teaching assignment.
She lived in Mexico and Colombia for over 8 years.
Following Spanish class, weather permitting, the preschoolers work on gross motor skills outdoors.
They have bikes and climbing equipment.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays, they become familiar with a computer.
All in all, they are becoming wellprepared for life in the next century. Foreign language instruction does not end with pre-school.
A teacher from Berlitz comes twice a week to work with the 7th and 8th graders.
Her lessons focus on both speaking and writing. St. Roch’s is the only school with which Berlitz contracts. Principal Gloria Openlander called it “a good way to introduce the language at a reasonable price.” This year’s teacher, Pilar Calkin, is from Chile. Eventually, it is hoped that Spanish instruction can be extended to more grades.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, March 1995.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1995_03.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
