The Time of their Lives!
The Cultural Week is the greatest event of the year. After a hard job preparing everything to be presented; on Tuesday, the languages day was developed. The day was full of experiences, in which students from preschool to eleventh grade were involved; demonstrating their abilities to use any language but Spanish.
Preschoolers enjoyed an amazing safari adventure, wearing animal masks and using their senses to identify, mimic their sounds and reach challenges to win points for their house. Students hit a home run with their excellent performance!
First, second and third graders started performing and guessing characters from famous movies. After that, they became leaders in the entrepreneurship fair where they designed and promoted the usage of innovative elements that would help jobs like gardeners, firefighters, or teachers. The final part of the day consisted of solving puzzles to face linguistic challenges in the GCF Fun Fair.
Our intermediate category included 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. They performed scenes from movies to transform the coliseum into an alive museum. The atmosphere made visitors feel they really were inside the movies. Another big challenge they faced was the Digital Native scavenger hunt, in which students could demonstrate how to apply technology resources to the use of language in productions like memes, trends, or word puzzles. They ended the day with some challenges related to the scouting philosophy where they practiced team working and concentration skills.
Our high school students competed in other interesting activities. The Garage Sale was a completely successful escenario for several reasons: it opened doors to the GCF parents, who were involved by donating and participating in the trading practice; in addition, it meant an incredible opportunity to practice the language, not only for students but also for parents and teachers. Nonetheless, the main reason to qualify the activity as fruitful is the money collection the houses leadered and donated to different charities from the city: Fundación Caudal de Vida (Chigüiros), Hogar Geriátrico San Gerardo (Jaguares), Fundación amor y vida (Corocoras), Fundación Hogar de paso Victoria (Araguatos), Fundación Goles de Vida (Güios), Fundación Ana María (Venados), Fundación Sonriente (Cachirres), and La casa del alfarero (Cachicamos).
The Je m’apelle contest was an exercise in which students prepared and presented a performance inspired by a musical video that was previously assigned. The houses made evident their effort and commitment.
In addition to these wonderful activities the languages team had prepared, the second day of the Cultural Week 2022 has been the starting point of a new language promotion strategy: the supervision by language inspectors became an essential part of the English and French atmosphere that involved all the community. Their mission was to monitor the use of language to avoid the is of our mother tongue. Instead, they encourage everybody to be aware of the correct use of our second and foreign language.
At the end of the day, every single action had been noted and considered for the competition. The final results were:
1st place: Jaguares with 4,132 points
2nd place: Corocoras with 3,776 points
3rd place: Cachirres with 3,641 points
4th place: Güios with 3,244 points
5th place: Chigüiros with 2,935 points
6th place: Venados with 2,617 points
7th place: Cachicamos with 2,523 points
8th place: Araguatos with 1,987 points
It is important to thank the teachers, parents, inspectors, and students who made it possible and actively participated in the task.
By Alejandra Méndez Baquero
Head of the languages department.