Photo By Chief Petty Officer Nathan Carpenter | NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (April 4, 2023) Maria Jose Camacho Perez, a teacher at Rota...... read more read more
There are more than 1.6 million military children living around the world. Moving every two to three years, their childhoods are spent in numerous homes – both stateside and abroad. They experience frequent goodbyes and new schools and support systems, but also have the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in cultures unlike their own.
Most military families aboard Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, Spain, send their children to the Department of Education Activity (DoDEA) schools for continuity of education. The two schools, David Glasgow Farragut (DGF) Middle/High School and Rota Elementary School, support the educational and special needs of children from preschool through 12th grade.
While the schools provide consistency in American-based curriculum and teach in the English language, DoDEA recognizes the incredible learning opportunities located just outside the gates. To bridge this gap, Rota Elementary School offers their students the opportunity to learn and embrace their temporary home of Spain.
"The opportunity for military children to immerse themselves in new cultures is a unique and valuable experience, one that will stay with them for a lifetime,” explained Kenneth Kirk, principal at Rota Elementary School. “By offering classes, language, and clubs related to the host nation, schools like Rota Elementary School provide these children with not only an excellent education but also a chance to develop into empathetic and culturally aware individuals."
Maria Jose Camacho Perez and Laura Alcedo Escudero, host nation and Spanish language teachers at Rota Elementary School, provide elementary-aged students with the language, history, and cultural events of Spain. Through the use of songs, games and conversational questions, they teach the children about their country.
“I think it is super important for them to learn about the Spanish culture since many of them live in Spanish neighborhoods and are surrounded by Spanish people,” said Camacho Perez, who has taught on base for 23 years.
Pulling on the seasonal cultural events of Spain, Camacho Perez is able to teach the students about the culture while making the classes fun and engaging. She said that her students particularly enjoy learning about carnival and feria because of the festivities’ bright colors, music, and dancing.
Alcedo Escudero, who has taught on base for five years, discovered her love for teaching when she worked for a few years at a Spanish school. When the opportunity arose for her to teach NAVSTA Rota children about her culture, she did not hesitate to apply.
Working in conjunction with each other, Camacho Perez teaches the older students focusing more on culture while Alcedo Escudero teaches the younger grades with an emphasis on language.
“My students are very open to learning about the Spanish culture and language,” said Alcedo Escudero. “We use a lot of games and dynamic activities so that makes the students come to my class eager to learn.”
By making the learning fun, she says the children come to class excited to learn.
For the younger students at Rota Elementary School, the cultural classes are broken into two separate classes each week, Spanish language and host nation. This allows Alcedo Esudero to focus on teaching the children vocabulary related to specific themes such as colors, months, weather, food, family members or the children’s favorite, animals!
For the students in grades third through fifth, Camacho Perez teaches a combined cultural and Spanish language class.
“I use Spanish [language] in class daily as an active tool,” she explained. “For example, we greet each other in Spanish, check the calendar, talk about the weather, take attendance, ask each other how we are feeling, sing songs, play educational games, and role play.”
Both teachers hope that their classes not only help the children better understand their current home and feel confident in interacting with locals off base, but also provide them with memories to last a lifetime.
“I always tell them that they are very lucky to be able to live this experience and have the possibility to learn a new culture and language,” said Alcedo Escudero.
The opportunities for students to experience Spain expands beyond the school curriculum too. Rota Elementary School second grade teacher Yadira Cuba Bizardi offers a sevillanas club each spring – a name taken from the traditional dance performed during feria in Andalucia.
“Students learn about the Spanish culture in host nation and Spanish language at school with Ms. Camacho and Ms. Alcedo while they are stationed here in Spain,” said Bizardi. “I take it one step further giving the students the opportunity to learn the dance.”
The popular sevillanas club is open to students in first through fifth grades. They meet weekly throughout the spring to learn the traditional dance.
Cuba Bizardi learned flamenco while living in New York City and continued with professional dancers while studying at a Spanish university in Madrid. When she arrived to Rota in 1993 as a teacher, she wanted to bring sevillanas to the students at the school.
Over the years, she has taught the club each year with approximately 40-50 students divided into two groups. The culmination of the sevillanas club is a recital performed for family and friends.
“Their favorite part is showing off what they have learned during the recital,” said Bizardi. “They also love to get dressed up in their beautiful feria outfits.”
By helping the children understand the culture that surrounds them during their time in Spain, the teachers hope the students depart Rota with plenty of memories. This knowledge and understanding will hopefully give them confidence and empathy towards others who are different to them and ultimately “help them become better citizens in the 21st Century.”
| Date Taken: | 04.27.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2023 10:30 |
| Story ID: | 443476 |
| Location: | ES |
| Web Views: | 397 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bridging Cultures: Rota Elementary School Brings Local Culture and Language to its Students, by Courtney Pollock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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