Pottsgrove World Language Curriculum is Thriving

Photo by Evan Brandt

From left, Pottsgrove language teachers Lisa Merritt, Colleen Krum and Natacha Dubuisson with a display put together by their 7th grade World Language students about what they are learning in the exploratory class.

It's been a year since the Pottsgrove School Board decided to return the teaching of French to the school district.

Tuesday night, some of the district's language teachers offered a report on how things are going.

Seventh graders take a class split into trimesters, in which the students sample German, Spanish and French, said Spanish teacher Colleen Krum.

The students are learning how the three European languages are related to each other, and to English, and that is also helping to improve their vocabulary in all four languages, she said.

A student survey among the seventh graders revealed a desire for more languages -- and snacks.

Natacha Dubuisson, who teaches French, said her surveys showed that 80 percent of the seventh graders hope to continue with the language in high school. Further, she said 62 percent of her high school students have also indicated a desire to continue with the language.

High School Principal William Ziegler said the staff will know in just a few days whether that desire shows up in the class selection students there are now completing.

Like the seventh grade class, Dubuisson said her class teaches about cultures of French-speaking nations around the world.

Nevertheless, she said when she asked the students why they want to take French, "50 percent say it because they want to go to Paris," she said with a laugh.

And with that, click here to read the Tweets from last night's meeting.