A new Spanish class will be introduced in the 2015 school year. This new class is designed for students from a Hispanic/Latino heritage who already have some native Spanish-speaking skills.

The class will be a new opportunity for Spanish speaking students to learn about culture, and to prepare to enter a multilingual, multicultural workforce with marketable language skills.

“I am excited because we are providing the students with skills they can use in the future,” Spanish teacher Analia Carter said. “We want to refine what they already know and build on that foundation.”

This new class gives Spanish speaking students an opportunity to get out of an amature spanish course and into something that can become beneficial to them.

“What I’m looking forward to learning in this class are the missing pieces that I need to become fluent in Spanish,” junior Brian Loera said.

This course will also focus on the development of reading and writing skills, such as knowing the correct use of diacritical marks in writing.

“I’m glad the school is starting a class like this because I really get to advance myself in Spanish and it will help me a lot later in the future,” Loera said.

Derby High School world language teachers have recognized the unique language development needs of students who speak Spanish as a native language, and started advocating strongly for this course. It is designed to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking students.

“I am looking forward to giving them the opportunity to instill pride in their heritage, and to build a better future for themselves,” Carter said.

-Sara Wallace