Wilsonville High School offers dual language classes, allowing students to take certain courses in Spanish and earn a cord at graduation. The program includes classes like Biology in Spanish, Modern U.S. History in Spanish, AP Spanish Literature, and more.
Students in Mr. Navarro’s Modern U.S. History class work to complete their project in Spanish. For dual language students, classes like this are essential to earn required credits, even though it can be a struggle to meet this requirement because of the small number of offered classes.
To finish the program, a certain number of credits must be completed in Spanish. But, there are few elective options included, leaving students stuck taking what’s offered. Junior Paige Hibbard says, “It doesn’t really give me that much variety to take the classes I want and also fill the credits.”
This can lead to problems such as students not feeling passionate about their coursework. “Even if you aren’t super interested in art, like Latino Arts and Culture, it might be the one elective that you can take to complete your credits,” said Makena Wellman, a sophomore in the program.
Also, students can miss out on taking things that interest them more. “Almost all the electives in Spanish are a year long, so that takes up a huge part of my schedule,” added Wellman. This leaves limited space for other electives that a student would rather take, as dual classes take up a large portion of their year.
Another issue that arises during forecasting is the number of students who don’t complete the Dual Language program in order to take other classes. Mr. Navarro teaches Spanish Leadership and Modern US in Spanish. He explains that sometimes students struggle deciding on taking his class or an AP instead, like AP U.S. History.
Navarro stated, “Giving classes that don’t conflict or have high competition with other classes will allow students to not feel pressure to either do dual language or college level classes.”
The struggle to find more dual classes begins with teachers. Mr. Navarro continues, “It’s hard to find people that speak Spanish at an academic level, and just happen to be qualified to teach the subject.” Also, finding time in a teacher’s schedule for more class options isn’t easy.
More courses available in Spanish would help keep students in the program, staying engaged in classwork, and furthering their opportunities in the future.
