After-School Foreign Language Program at Elementary Schools

Groton-Dunstable's administrative team alongside high school and middle school foreign language teachers announce an after-school foreign language program, providing elementary students at Florence Roche and Swallow Union an opportunity to learn a second language.

The twice-weekly sessions began Oct. 7 at both school locations and will continue on both Tuesday and Thursday through Jan. 29.

Groton-Dunstable Regional High School Principal Michael Mastrullo met over summer with elementary school principals from Florence Roche and Swallow Union, Liz Garden and Peter Meyerson, respectively, to plan this new endeavor.

After the first session, foreign language teacher Nicole Penchansky was thrilled at the opportunity to connect with younger students saying, "it was very exciting to begin teaching Spanish to the elementary school students. We had a lot of fun as the students learned basic introductions, emotions, the alphabet numbers and colors."

Penchansky, a fifth year G-D High School teacher, continued, "I was amazed at their ability to quickly pick up proper pronunciation and vocabulary. They're like little sponges! I'm really looking forward to see how much they learn over the next 10 weeks!"

First year Spanish teacher Zachary Bissonnette also was impressed by students saying, "it was an awesome experience. Upon walking in, the third and fourth graders were ready to take on the feat of learning Spanish."

Bissonnette continued, "As I reminded them of 'clean-up,' they told me that the program went by so fast. They absorbed various Spanish words and phrases, and were fully engaged with the concepts."

Beyond preparing students for a globally-connected world, learning a second language has many cognitive benefits including improvement of overall memory and decision-making skills.

If you have any questions ontact Michael Mastrullo. Learn more at: http://www.gdrsd.org/District/News/4170-Foreign-Language-Program-Begins....