As the aroma of freshly cooked Cuban cuisine floats through the halls, noses turn to inhale the appetizing fragrances. Mouth-watering smells have become a frequent occurrence on campus since Spanish III teacher, Beatriz Foth, has been arranging many guest speakers to broaden her student’s minds.
“We like to have guest speakers in our class to expose the students to different Hispanic cultures,” Foth said. “Each speaker shares his or her culture with the class and we are able to learn about their different societies and customs.”
Students and teachers agree that there are many positive aspects to being exposed to different cultures.
“Having guest speakers come to class is really great,” Kristin Dunne, ’04, said. “We learn a lot and they always share some interesting information with us about what it’s like to live in their country. Its nice to be able to apply what we’ve learned to other people’s experiences in life.”
Being able to apply what they’ve learned in class to everyday life is important to both teacher and students.
“It’s different for the students when someone can tell and show them about the culture instead of having them just read it in the text book,” Foth said. “It’s more exciting when the learning is hands on instead of plainly said in a text book.”
Percida “Percy” Moran shared with the Spanish III class about her early life in communist Cuba on Mar. 31. Her father, a pastor, was red listed and was one of the first Cubans to escape to Miami, Florida.
“Cuba is a rough country to live in,” Moran said. “There is no such thing as freedom of speech or freedom of religion. Everything from the Internet to the radio is filtered through the communist government.”
From Moran’s short talk, students learned more about Cuba than they thought.
“I never thought that Cuba was that bad,” Esther Tarudji, ’05, said. “I guess we really have it made here in America. It was really nice to have someone come and share a part of their lives with us.”
Also, the students enjoy the food aspect of hosting a guest speaker. The Spanish III class has enjoyed foods such as, paella, tacos, burritos, rice and beans, fried plantines and flan.
“Learning about the different cultures and becoming acquainted with new flavors of ethnic foods is great to experience,” Andrew Kaiser, ’05, said. “It’s nice to know that other countries don’t eat hamburgers and hot dogs all the time.”
For more information on Spanish III and other classes, students and parents can contact the high school office at 299-1695, ext. 5.