Haddam-Killingworth- The AP Spanish class at HKHS and three teachers went to Spain from April 8th to April17th for a fabulous educational trip. This trip gave students the opportunity to use their Spanish in authentic cultural situations as well as further develop their global competency skills.
This experience provided wonderful opportunities for students to develop international awareness. Through the study of history while visiting museums and monuments, students learned how Spain and Europe were shaped by wars and weddings. Students were surprised to discover that Spain is a constitutional monarchy considering how powerful kings and queens were in the past. In order to find commonalities between this culture and their own, they compared two different ways to celebrate a local fair, "La Feria de Sevilla" and the Durham Fair. Students were surprised by the music, dancing and clothing, but they were able to adapt by recognizing familiar values such as friendship and family values.
Students appreciated the cultural diversity of Spain both past and present while visiting cities such Toledo, Granada, and Seville. They learned about the coexistence of people of various religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) in harmony. They were also exposed to the newer diversity among people from Spain, the European community, North Africa and South America while walking through big cities and small villages.
After four years of working diligently to learn Spanish in class, students proved their proficiency in the language while interacting with locals, shopping in clothing stores, ordering in restaurants, and talking with tour guides and with each other. All of these tasks required reading, listening and speaking in Spanish. Students were able to effectively transfer what was learned in class to authentic situations.
HKHS students were great ambassadors of our community and country. Their behavior was respectful and appropriate as they adapted to a variety of culturally-diverse settings. This experience has helped students move along on their journey of becoming global-minded people of the world.
Juan José Vázquez-Caballero
Haddam-Killingworth High School
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