When you walk through the first floor of Gloucester High School this week, take a look up. Decorating the once plain ceiling tiles are colorful streamers and world language flags, marking the revival of a long standing tradition. The GHS Foreign Language department has brought back Foreign Language Week, with food, games, crafts and movies for the student body.
In hopes to keep the community in good spirits despite the vacation loss, February 18th through the 21st will celebrate and highlight different cultures and ethnicities in the student population, as well as enriching those in World Language classes throughout the week.
“All the language classes are going to meet in different areas of the school,” said Spanish teacher Jen Flahrety. “There’s going to be posters and decorations that will be all around, so everyone knows what’s going on even if they don’t take a language.”
The idea to bring back the time honored tradition this particular year was sparked due to the School Calendar eliminating Winter Break to make up education time from November’s teacher strike. The language teachers hope this will encourage attendance while other schools who were not affected by the strike are on recess.
Each day, students enrolled in Spanish, Italian and French gathered in the lecture hall to watch the 1998 Italian movie “La Vita e Bella,” a true classic about Italy in World War 2. Starring Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi and Giorgio Cantarini, this powerful story not only concluded with a tear-jerking ending, but also enriched those learning languages.
“It’s nice to honor it again and realize that learning is not all just tests and quizzes,” Flahrety said. “Sometimes it’s realizing that dance, arts, and crafts can be just as valuable as a book test.”
Friday, the “World Language Olympics” took place, marking an end to the action packed week. Ruby McElhenny created a video documenting the day, as well as the days previous, which is linked below. World Language Week is celebrated all over the world, and Gloucester High School is proud to showcase their appreciation for different cultures and ethnicities in creative ways.
