- Hey everybody, I'm Doug and that's Connor.
And this is the Bethel School District Presents podcast.
We have an amazingly spectacular show for you today.
We heading over to Spanaway Middle School to talk
with a dual language immersion teacher
and two of her students.
Now these students have been in the program since they were
in kindergarten and at the end
of this school year they'll be leaving middle school
and heading off to high school
and taking the program with 'em.
It's gonna be a great conversation.
- Absolutely exciting stuff. But
before that, Doug, I was watching something last night.
You want to guess what I was watching?
- I'm gonna go with either true Detective
or reruns of the Golden Girls.
- Two good guesses, both wrong.
I was actually watching Freaky Friday. Oh
- Remember that one?
I do had Barbara Harris, Jody Foster,
and it even had the guy
that played Boss Hog in the Dukes of Hazard.
- Sir, I only recognize one Freaky Friday
and it's starring Lindsay Lohan
- .
We live very different lives.
- That's very true. But anyway,
it got me thinking if you Douglas
could switch bodies with anyone in the world
for 24 hours Freaky Friday style, who are you gonna choose?
And more importantly why
- This is a perplexing question.
My initial thought is to go with the family member
because Freaky Friday, that's, that's og.
That's how they did it. But let's not go down
that rabbit hole just yet because I have questions sir.
If I go into some sports guy's body,
am I gonna have the talents
and abilities that that sports person has?
- Yes, you will. You will have full
access of their capabilities.
- Okay, so just to be clear,
let's say I go into Michael Jordan's body.
Am I gonna be able to dunk like Jordan?
- Doug, your sports references are a little dated here.
Michael Jordan's about 65 years old.
I don't, I don't know how much he's dunking
- Right now.
I don't care. I wanna be like Mike.
But that is some pretty good information to have.
I was also thinking Tony Hawk,
but he's in his mid fifties I think.
So I don't know how many bunny hop,
three seventies he's got left in the tank.
So if I picked a singer, would I know all the words
to all their songs and like all the dance moves.
So if I wanted to be like, let's say Taylor Swift,
would I be able to do that performance
or would I have to practice before we made the switch?
- Well Doug, great question
and I don't wanna get too in the weeds on this one,
but I will just say whoever you body swap with,
you do have access to their talents
and abilities for that 24 hour period.
- I do really like this question
'cause now I'm thinking maybe I could use it to travel.
I don't really want to get on a plane
and fly like 18, 24 hours to get to New Zealand.
But if I inhabited the body of somebody in New Zealand,
then they could come see Tacoma
and I could see whatever's in New Zealand. Well
- Doug, as per use,
you're putting a lot of thought into this.
We appreciate that. I wanna hear my answer.
- I do. I'm really struggling with this question.
Not only do you have to figure out who you wanna switch
with, but then you have to know that
that person's gonna be switching with you.
And there could be shenanigans,
- There could be shenanigans and,
and my answer, I'm gonna keep it short
and simple since you're being a little verbose,
I'm gonna choose you Doug.
'cause I've always wanted to know what it was like working
with a handsome genius.
- Okay, so you are the handsome genius. You said
- It not me, - .
So you are me, I'm you.
But then you're working with me still, so
- It's kind of a face off type of deal.
- . I gotcha. I'll be Travolta,
I'll be Nick Cage all day.
All day, all day. Okay, well I'm gonna have to ponder this.
Let's let you head over to Spanaway Middle School
and chat with our guests today.
And when you get back to the studio, I'll have my answer.
- Joining us today is Spanaway Middle School,
dual language department lead
and teacher Andrea Saldana, along with two of her students,
harmony and Leslie, thank you all for joining us.
So Andrea, I'm gonna start with you.
Uh, some people may not be familiar
with our dual language program.
Can you give us a quick rundown of what the program is
and who's eligible to take part in it? Sure.
- So here in the Bethel School District we have what's
referred to as a ninety ten two way immersion program.
So our students actually start at tk,
which is transitional kindergarten in an academic
environmental setting where 90%
of their day is in the target language of Spanish
and 10% is in English.
And then as they go moving up through the grade levels,
they start even out in the English
and Spanish where they get to eventually third grade
where they reach 50% in English, 50% in Spanish.
And their core content is in both English and Spanish.
So other districts have 80 10 programs or 80 20 have 50 50.
So here in Spanaway we just have the 80 20.
So they're targeted audience is typically native Spanish
speakers and heritage Spanish speakers.
What's great about our two-way immersion is
that we also have monolingual English speakers,
but we also have other cultures
and ethnicities represented in our program.
So then you have these great language models
for the students who are native Spanish speakers
with the monolingual English speakers
and then vice versa, we have our really strong Spanish
speakers for our monolingual English speakers.
The goal is to continue the academic vocabulary
and increase the language proficiency
for both groups as they move up. And
- What would you say the breakdown is of students
who are native Spanish speakers versus those monolingual
English speakers when they come in
- For a two-way immersion, the goal is 50 50.
- Is that about where we're at?
- It's not where we're at, no.
Because of attrition throughout the years
and how hard it is to try to recruit for the academic level
of Spanish that we need, we do end up with about a mix
of 80% native or heritage speakers and 20% non-native.
So it does go kind of ebbing
and flowing depending on the year,
depending on the moves and things like that. Harmony,
- This is, I find this amazing.
You've only known dual language programs
'cause you started as a kindergartner right at
Thomson Elementary next door here.
What have you seen as the biggest benefit
of this dual language program now
that you're getting all the way up into eighth grade?
- I'd say the biggest benefit is seeing all
of the different cultures.
Like not being part of the Latino community.
It's nice to see everybody else, how everybody else feels.
- And Leslie, what about you? What, what have you seen
as the kind of biggest benefit that you've,
you've faced since you started the program?
- Honestly, I feel like I've been able to communicate
with people more and kind of understand
where people's points of views come
and how everyone like everyone can come together
and then just kind of be themselves in one place.
- For students in our district
who haven't taken part in a dual language program.
Could you describe just kind of how the day works, how much
of your day you are in class speaking Spanish versus
speaking English versus both?
Just to give a student a
rundown of maybe what they're missing. A
- Typical day would be like 50 50 Spanish.
We have three periods all in Spanish.
We have two written next to each other
and then one that's in the morning.
So it's difficult to kind of switch between,
but it's not too hard doing it for so long
'cause we've done it for all three years.
- And Andrea, how did you get involved
with the dual language program
and how long have you been a teacher here in Bethel?
- This is my third year in Bethel.
I started here in Bethel as they were just,
this very group was moving from fifth grade to sixth grade.
So I was kind of brought on with the idea
that I would help establish the cohort
and help move up with them.
I've been teaching in dual language since 2018
and I got started out of actually just being able
to speak Spanish and being bilingual
in a different district.
There's a need for more bilingual professionals
and it was just a happenstance.
I was at the right place. Right time.
- And, and Leslie, we, we've talked a little bit about some
of the benefits of this program.
What have been some of the most
difficult parts of going through this program?
- I would say kind of getting that transition right
between like moving from your English classes to Spanish
because it's like, it's like the
little switch that you have.
It just kind of gotta stay on and off and on and off.
So kind of making that transition.
But once you get the hang of it, you'll, you'll be alright.
- So Leslie, do you think there's a difference
between learning a second language earlier
rather than later in life?
Is it easier, more difficult, somewhere in between? Um,
- Honestly I think it's easier at a younger age
'cause you kind of get, like when you start your life you
kinda get those like first building blocks that you can come
and put together when you like kind
of grow up hearing those words.
It is easier to understand what people are saying. I think
- Arm you agree with that? Yeah.
- I can see how it's hard to like engrave it
into your life the older you get.
Mm-Hmm . And it makes it easier
to do it when you're young, just learning your
new things in life. Yeah.
- Brain's a sponge When you're young.
And Andrea, I'm guessing you have some perspective
on this as an educator.
Um, any benefits that you see
as at learning a second language earlier in life?
- Well, I think Leslie hit the nail on the head.
Those are the foundational building blocks for the rest
of the students' academic journeys.
They'll need the vocabulary that they'll learn, the concepts
that they learn, even the social skills that they learn.
We're super fortunate in this district
to have a transitional kinder class
for the dual language students where they're preparing them
for those academic challenges
that they will see being in a dual language program,
especially for our monolingual students.
So, and as a parent
of a kindergartner in the dual language program,
I see it every day
and it's just incredible to see
how much further they can come just off
that opportunity. That's
- Great.
So you're getting all the perspectives of this as a teacher
and, and as a mother.
So in addition to learning a second language,
you're also learning about other cultures.
What have you enjoyed most about
that part of your education? We'll start with you. Harmony.
- I've enjoyed that.
Instead of just watching it as like an outsider,
I've been incorporated into it,
especially at like the nights that we have at school,
like the Tam night or Regos.
It's just really nice to be able to be into it instead
of just watching from afar.
- Yeah, very cool. And Leslie, what about you?
What, what are some of these, the
cultural aspects that you enjoy?
- I think the same thing that Harmony said
and I also really enjoy like when everyone comes together
because sometimes it feels like maybe people feel kind
of bad, like just walking into the culture
as if they're not part of it or anything.
So it's for them, for some people it's kind of like a house
and you're just like kind of looking
through a window without like, everything sounds muffled
but like when you're really into it,
I feel like it brings all the cultures together
and then you kinda get to see like walk
to other people's shoes and see
how they feel being part of that culture.
- So I, I wanted to ask you both about
where you see yourselves using this language proficiency
as you move throughout the rest of your lives.
But I wanna do it in a kind of interesting way.
So I'm gonna ask, and I would love to have one
of you answer in Spanish
and have the other translate that answer for our listeners.
So Leslie ,
how do you see yourself using these language
skills in your adult life?
Well that, that sounded amazing.
As a non-Spanish speaker, I have no idea what you said.
So this is where Harmony, this is where you come in
and you obviously, I don't expect
a word for word translation.
She had a very in-depth answer,
but could you give me a translation of
what your friend has just said?
- She said that using Spanish day to day can really help
and it's really nice to be able to, especially like
with jobs and stuff where if you go to a store
and somebody there speaks Spanish,
it helps connect everybody together.
Especially with the native Spanish speakers
that don't really know English that well
and in other places that the culture,
it just gets engraved in more places in the world.
- Fantastic. Yeah, great answer.
Anything else that people should know about the program
that I didn't ask that's important?
- I think there's a lot of hesitancy from parents
to enroll their students in these kinds of programs,
especially if they are heritage or native Spanish speakers.
'cause they're so worried about the
English language acquisition.
And for those parents, I would, I would just encourage them
to like do their research
and homework, talk to students, talk to teachers
because it is just such a valuable
and great opportunity for their students.
They get lifelong skills that will just transfer over into
so many areas of their lives.
And our students come out so mature, so profound.
And it's just a different experience. And it does take time.
It does take practice commitment
and effort, which we all know
that at some points students will have their highs,
students will have their lows,
but just continuing to support them
because it is, it is worth it.
- Yeah. So many benefits to the program.
Um, anything that either of you would like to add?
- Honestly, I just feel like the program
is kind of just like a puzzle.
Like it kind of depends the amount
of effort you put into it.
And if you kind of just keep going
and putting all those pieces together,
then you'll, you'll get places.
- I bet. Uh, harmony, anything from you? I
- Agree with Leslie on the part that we have
to put the pieces together as like a whole community.
It can't just be a few people doing it.
It all has to come together and so do the people.
- Well that's awesome. Well thank you all so much
for joining us and talking about this really cool program.
- Yeah, no problem. Thank you. You're welcome. Very fun.
- That's gonna wrap up our show for this week, Connor.
Amazing interview.
Love hearing from those students
and I'm excited to see where they're headed once
they get to high school.
Back to our question that started at all
that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.
If you could switch bodies with someone
for 24 hours Freaky Friday style, who would it be and why?
Connor, you said me so
that you could look at yourself in a non mirrored way, which
a little bizarre, but I like it.
I'm gonna go off book and say Darby Allen.
He is a professional wrestler slash stunt person
of internet fame.
He's actually training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro soon.
He does all kinds of crazy stuff. Seems to never get hurt.
And I just want to know
what it's like to be him for one day.
And I bet whatever day I pick I'd
be doing something real weird.
- Well, Doug, if you want
to get body slammed, you could just ask
- .
That's gonna wrap it up for this week, everybody.
We'll be back next week with another show,
some other great guests and some
more nonsense from Connor and I.
Thanks for listening.