Language Lessons

June 1, 2005

HHS students, grads learning real-life language lessons

DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

Hays Daily News

Hays High School introduced its students to the global classroom in a big way this year when it issued laptopcomputers to each and every student. Nearly 50 current and former HHS students will get an even broader international lesson the next couple of weeks when they take part in trips to Europe as part of the Education First Education Tours program. Thirty-six students from Spanish classes at HHS left early this morning for a two-week trip to Spain, France and Italy. A dozen students from German classes leave Sunday for a similar trip to Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany. Two of the Spanish and German teachers at HHS had participated in similar programs at former schools and were impressed with what the students bring back with them. "I love the exchange experience. This is the most fun part of teaching a foreign language," said Ann Adams, who teaches German and Latin at Hays High. "Those teachable moments just happen." Adams had participated in the EF Tours program in Great Bend before coming to Hays six years ago, and Lora Gallegos-Haynes had done the same at Hoisington High School before coming to HHS in 1999. "It's an eye-opener, for sure," Gallegos-Haynes said of the trips. "Not everything is like Hays, Kan. Seeing the airport in New York City will even be an experience. For being a city along a busy interstate, (Hays) is still pretty isolated from the rest of the United States, let alone the rest of the world." "They come to understand that there are other ways of looking at things," Adams said. "The solutions that we have found here are not the only solutions." Six adults will accompany the Spanish classes, including Melinda Cross, who teaches Spanish I at HHS, while Adams will be accompanied by Casey Seyfert, a social studies teacher at Hays High. "I think someone along who knows more about history will be a real enrichment for the group," Adams said. The program fee of $2,400 per person includes round-trip airfare, 10 overnight stays in hotels, two meals daily, a full-time bilingual our director, five sightseeing tours led by licensed local guides, 15 visits to special attractions, two EF walking tours and several sightseeing briefings. The educational experience begins long before the trips, in and out of the classroom. Besides learning about the countries they will visit, they also get a lesson in financial planning. When students sign up for the trip, they have the option to work at concession stands during Hays Recreation Commission events throughout the year to help pay for their expenses. The students earn the rest on their own. "Another learning experience," Adams said; "They are helping pay their own way." Each traveler is allowed to have 48 pounds of luggage, in addition to two smaller carry-ons, so they also learn how to pack efficiently. Planning for the trips is ongoing for Gallegos-Haynes and Adams, who already are looking ahead to their next venture. Adams is planning a trip, open to all foreign language students at HHS, to Rome next summer. And both teachers are planning trips for 2007 - Gallegos-Haynes to Costa Rica and Adams a return trip to Germany. For now, though, their thoughts are on the next couple of weeks. "The opportunity to use the language (is) No. 1," Gallegos-Haynes said of another learning experience. "Sometimes, if they mispronounce something, they might have something crawling on their plate. The cultural experience is great; just the experience of traveling." While there are many highlights on the trip, Gallegos-Haynes said an excursion to Vatican City in Rome has to be near the top of the list. Adams said her trip's "crowning touch" will be a bicycle trip to the Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany, the structure from which Walt Disney patterned his famous castle. "There will be action and history and beautiful scenery, all in one big trip," Adams said. "I think," Gallegos-Haynes added, "that they will have more respect for what we have in the United States." Anyone wishing to learn more about the trips can call Adams at (785) 623-4678 or Gallegos-Haynes at 628-0805, after June 20.

Reporter Diane Gasper-O'Brien can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 126, or by e-mail at dobrien@dailynews.net.