By:Laura Lane Mervosh
I've studied languages, so I know that the younger they are, the easier it is to learn."
Dana D'Arrigo
Teacher
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, first and second graders from North Bellmore Park Avenue School refuse to watch The Rug Rats. Instead, they go to school early to learn Spanish. Later in the afternoon, when the dismissal bell rings, as children burst through the doors, many fourth and fifth graders stay after school. They are learning Spanish as well.
This pilot program, blossoming at Park Avenue School, is not district sponsored. It is the end result of an effort by some key players who managed to get funding from the PTA, Kiwanis and Lions Clubs. This learning opportunity results from the Park Avenue's Site Based Management Team.
The Site Based Team meets once a month is an effort to improve things at school, Mike Wolk, Park Avenue principal and a Site Based member. Other committee people include four teachers and four parents.
The idea of teaching Spanish at the elementary school was proposed for the last year or two at other Site Based meetings.
We felt that it would be a wonderful way to learn an appreciation of other cultures, something positive for the kids, Wolk said. We felt it would expose them to a wider world.
Other districts now involved in this program have had positive results, and research has shown that it is easier to learn a foreign language at a younger age. What Park Avenue needed was someone get the idea going. Enter Diane Bradley, PTA board member. Bradley had taken an interest in the idea owing to her own prior learning experiences with foreign languages. I was a foreign-language major in college, so it's a particular interest to me, she said. Learning foreign languages gave me insight into my own language. I understood grammar structure much better.
Doing a little investigative work, Bradley pulled files and found a survey that had been taken a few years ago by the PTA. Results were positive; parents wanted their children to learn a foreign language.
At that time, there was no one to organize the project, Bradley explained. We needed a grant written to get funding, and an outline of the program written as well.
Diane Bradley gave the idea life.
After speaking to Wolk, she wrote a letter to state Sen. Charles Fuscillo Jr., requesting funds and, at the suggestion of Assistant Superintendent Marilyn Johnson (who also teaches grant writing), proposed a pilot program to first see if there was current interest in the program.
Bradley wrote a questionnaire, which was sent home with the children. The response was overwhelming. About 450 parents responded positively, creating a need for a lottery to choose the fortunate 100 students for the program. The plan was to let the children experience five or six Spanish lesson classes, gauge the interest, and then, depending on results, decide how to raise funds for a program for next year.
Bradley still needed funds for this year's pilot program. She researched elementary-level foreign language programs throughout the U.S. and used her findings to write a grant application. One of the teachers, Joan Howard, had written grants before and helped Bradley. Although her work was meticulous, she was too late; the grants had already been depleted.
Mike Wolk contacted Kiwanis that we needed additional funds, Bradley said. They fund programs like this. After speaking to Wolk, Ron Riebl, former president of Kiwanis contacted Victor Elefante, vice president of the Lions Club, and both presented the idea to their organizations.
This program is typical of what we do, Riebl said. I presented it at a board meeting to seek approval to participate in the program. Considering the effect that it could have on the kids, and considering that funds were not available through school, we thought it would be good to put funds that we had already raised back into the community.
When I presented it to our members, it was passed immediately, Elefante from the Lions Club added. When it comes to kids in our community, we never say no.
With the funds now available and the PTA adding funds as well, the pilot program had a future, but not without teachers.
Mr. Wolk discussed the program with the teachers at school asking for assistance, Bradley said. But no one was a certified foreign-language teacher. I contacted someone in charge of foreign-language programs in the district, and they contacted the teachers.
Litsa Cucci, Monica Kerning, Kimberly Ekstam and Dana D'Arrigo agreed to teach the children.
I've studied languages, so I know that the younger they are, the easier it is to learn, D'Arrigo, a fifth-grade teacher in south Bellmore's foreign-language program, said. It's a challenge and great opportunity for me to be involved in this. I love working with the little kids.
The children responded quickly to their first lesson, learning how to count to 10 in the first half hour. With teachers like Cucci, Kerning, Ekstam, and D'Arrigo, they were in good hands.
I visited other schools originally to see what their programs were like to get an idea of how to teach this program in the South Bellmore schools, DiArrigo explained. Now, I'm taking it to North Bellmore.
The program has been successful with parental approval as well as enthusiasm from the children.
People came up to me at a recent PTA function and told me how excited their kids were and how much they appreciated it, Bradley said. The parents definitely saw the benefits from the program.
Nancy Kovacik's 11-year-old son Matthew is involved in the program and is rapidly learning. He loved the class and felt that he learned a great deal, she said. Kovacik, is also on the Site Based Committee and, after seeing the idea tossed around for years, was happy to receive the PTA notice requesting participation.
Ron Riebl also has a child involved in the program.
I have a sixth grader in it, and he is enjoying it thoroughly, he said. He's a baseball player, but when he made the decision to do this, he didn't worry about missing anything extracurricular.
There is hope for next year in acquiring funds. The Board of Education is going to do a study of the feasibility of including foreign-language programs into the curriculum, Wolk said. A member made a motion as a direct result of the turnout at Park Avenue for the pilot program. The Board of Education has decided to see if they can bring it into the district.
Being proficient at other languages helps me in my writing skills, Bradley said. That's my hope for the kids.
