February 1
From the moment Bamrec was created, we’ve dedicated every day to working harder, shooting for higher goals, and rolling out the freshest ideas. Looking back on the effort we put in and the obstacles we had to surpass, we still made 2020 our year. Through launching new initiatives, we were able to truly maximize what it means to bring confidence, character, and creativity in everything we do. During the Summer 2020 Courses, one of the special ideas we had was to launch a Spanish Course for students in the community, which saw great success. This Peek Into the Past, we’ll show you the inner workings of this program and all the fun that we had!
Breakdown
Who: Taught by Meriem Cherif (that’s me!), the Bamrec Spanish course was designed for elementary and middle schoolers to teach them the foundations of the Spanish language, as well as to encourage curiosity about the rich culture of Spanish-speaking countries. As children transition from tweens to teenagers, cultural and linguistic exposure become vital in their understanding of the world from a global viewpoint. We can encourage the next generation to become global citizens and conscious community members, who seek to take their education to new heights, and implement it in real-world scenarios.
What: Learning through a curriculum that builds upon each previous class, students gained an understanding in describing actions, telling the time, explaining likes and dislikes, using common phrases, and comprehending stories through movie and book format. Integrating writing, speaking, and listening into every lesson, students receive a multi-sensory learning experience that instills the lessons they learned during class-time.
Where: Most of the time, Spanish courses were taught at Bamec HQ. Don’t worry though, we went all over the place! From leading Spanish scavenger hunts around various areas in Bamrec, to holding lessons outside, each new setting contributed to the engaging learning environment. In fact, on the last day of school, our students traveled to a local Spanish-speaking restaurant, and ordered completely on their own in the language!
When: For one month, students came to Bamrec twice a week for two-hour classes. By the end of the four weeks, students loved the class so much that they requested to extend the course for one more session! Writing a proposal for extension, our students presented to the head of Bamrec, entirely in Spanish! With the extra four weeks granted to the class, students were able to deepen their understanding of the basics taught in the first four weeks, and improve their pronunciation.
Why: Living in an area with diverse cultures and multiple languages spoken, a Spanish course only seemed natural to introduce to our course curriculum. The benefits include fostering open mindedness and intellectual curiosity in the community, as well as providing students the social and academic perks of speaking more than one language, which you can learn about here!
How: In our Spanish course, each class brought something new. To increase their cultural enrichment, students participated in Salvador Dali realism art projects, watched movies about Día de los Muertos, and learned about urban legends from Spanish-speaking countries. In addition, projects like storybook writing and creating songs in Spanish kept classes exciting and thought-provoking. With a new schedule for each day, students never ran out of fun learning experiences!
Stay tuned for our Peek Into the Past series, where you will learn about Bamrec and the programs we run in depth!
