To give students a glimpse into Spanish entertainment and a chance to participate in bilingual television, campus Spanish teacher Beatriz Foth took her Spanish II and III classes to the Channel 21 Univision Fresno TV and radio station for the fourth consecutive year, April 19.

After an early release from first period to meet in the campus courtyard, students were transported via charter bus to Univision. There they were given a tour of the station and a presentation on Univision’s influence in the Hispanic community, Central Valley and nationwide. The Spanish III class was able to do a cooking segment for Channel 21’s morning show, where they prepared two traditional Hispanic dishes.

Upon their arrival, the group was given a lesson by a staff member about the significance and role of Univision in the Hispanic community and the different departments that keep it operating. The tour guide told about some of the network’s latest community projects and highlighted its sister stations, UniMas and Galavision. According to the guide, Univsion has the highest number of Spanish-speaking viewers in the world for a TV channel, so their influence is more than just in the Central Valley.

Foth was glad that her students had a chance to hear about a station that employs the language that they are learning in class. She hopes that her students were able to learn something new, whether it be about broadcasting, company departments or just about Univision in general.

“Today I think we got the general idea of what Univision does here in Fresno, how it?s involved in the community, the projects they work on, their sister TV stations like UniMas and Galavision and how they work all together as a network,” Foth said. “We realized that even though it?s a small building in Fresno, Univision is actually a part of a nationwide network, that it is actually the largest bilingual network in the nation and that the programs are watched in many other countries, not just here in the U.S.”

Judy Anaya, Univision’s General Manager Assistant, Office Manager and Director of Community Affairs, helped lead the tour for the students. She enjoys having classes come out for tours because of the opportunity she has to show them what really goes on at a radio station. She hopes that being at the station and watching how many of the broadcasts are bilingual will show students the importance of knowing more than one language.

“We love to have you guys {FC students} out here,” Anaya said. “We want to show them [Spanish II and III students] what they can accomplish if they are bilingual. I think the world and business is heading that direction, where you need to speak Spanish, English and other languages to communicate with the majority of the people.”

Anaya hopes that as a result of being at the station and hearing about Univision’s operations in the Central Valley and across the country, students will see that there are a wide variety of job opportunities at a TV station because there are so many different departments.

“What I want them to see and what they usually get is a sense of what we really do here,? Anaya said. “It?s not only a place where you can be on air and it?s all fun, but you learn that you could be an engineer and work here, that you could be a secretary or a salesperson. Another main focus is what we can give back to our community as well. We hope that they go out with a sense of knowing, ‘I could work there. That?s a great place where I could go work.’ That?s the bottom line.”

Once the tour guide completed his PowerPoint presentation, the students were led around the station to see the offices, editing rooms, control room and news report rooms. While in the offices, students had a chance to talk to reporters and ask questions about their job. At the end of the tour, they were taken to the filming room to do the final part of their trip: Spanish III’s cooking segment.

After setting up the ingredients and figuring out microphones and cameras, the students began the performance. Taking turns reciting lines they had memorized and with the Foth’s help answering questions from the program’s host, they explained and demonstrated how to prepare a tortilla Espanola, a potato, meat, cheese and vegetable omelet, and a coco de pastel, a traditional Caribbean dessert made with coconut. The show was aired on “Arriba Valle Central,” April 22, between 5 and 7 a.m.

Prior to the trip, junior Adam Loughney, was excited to be able to visit Univision again, as he went last year with his Spanish II class. Now instead of just observing the performance as a second-year Spanish student, he had a chance to participate in it.

“I?m looking forward to the experience of being on Spanish television,” Loughney said. “Last year in Spanish II, I was able to go and take a tour of the place and I saw Spanish III do it {cook} and I thought, ‘That?s cool, I?d like to do that.’ I?m actually really nervous, though, because it?s coming up to the actual time and I?m thinking, ‘Will I remember my instructions, will I not?’ I think I?m prepared, but I usually choke when it comes to pressure. That happens with a lot of my Spanish tests, but we?ll see.”

Despite the last minute changes that the class encountered and had to adjust to and the minor mistakes in preparation of the dishes, the performance met Foth’s expectations and she was pleased with the students’ efforts and flexibility.

“We had the pleasure of doing a cooking segment with Spanish III, and I think it went really well, in spite of all of the impromptu we had to do right there on the spot,” Foth said. “But, it?s part of life and it?s a good learning experience for all of us. Given the fact that we were not planning on actually cooking the tortilla Espanola and then they changed their minds and that the students weren?t actually prepared for that, I think it went well.”

Freshman Julianna Rosik appreciated the visit to Univision, especially for the bilingual aspect of the network and of the staff. As a Spanish II student, she admired their ability to speak two languages fluently and interchangeably, and hopes that she will also one day be able to do the same thing.

“I really like talking to bilingual people,” Rosik said. “I thought it was really interesting because I?m not very bilingual, but these guys are so good at what they do. I really enjoyed this trip.”

Rosik plans on taking Spanish III next year and looks forward to visiting Univision again, this time to be a part of the class’s cooking segment. She is a little nervous about it based on what she saw this year from Spanish III, but is still excited for the fun experience with her classmates and teacher.

“Next year, I know I?m going to be really nervous being on camera,” Rosik said. “I?m not very good on camera, but hopefully I?ll get my lines down and do well. I’m looking forward to next year because I’m really good friends with Senora and my classmates are always funny. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun next year.”

Spanish classes tour Univision, cook cultural dishes on TV (VIDEO) from The Feather Online on Vimeo.

Spanish III student Elora Hargis, ’14, did not entirely hate the trip, but she was not all that excited about it either. Although the experience was not as bad as she thought it would be, Hargis does not wish to ever do something like the performance again. She was relieved at how well the segment went despite the impromptu questions from the show’s host and the limit on time.

“I feel like it went smoother than we originally thought it would because we didn?t really know what to expect when we went on air,” Hargis said. “You?re pressured because you are timed and you?re live. The lady asked questions and we thought, ‘Huh?’ Senora helped us out, though, and everything went smoothly. Could have gone my entire life without this experience, but it happened, so cross it off the bucket list.”

Looking back on the trip, Foth is glad that the students had a chance to see how what they are learning in class applies to real life, due to the growing need for bilingual people in business and many other careers. She also hopes that for some of the students, this experience might help them decide what career they want to go into.

“First of all I hope they realized the importance of knowing second language, in this case Spanish,” Foth said. “I think the lady from the show ‘Arriba Valle Central’ made really clear that being bilingual or trilingual is an asset and is important in life. It may open up a lot of doors that would otherwise be closed for you. For some of the students, it may be an experience where they would be able to decide what they want to do in the future. I hope they have learned something new.”

This writer can be reached on Twitter at @JennaWeimer42.

For more features, see the April 23 article, FCC proposes ban on media censorship.