HASD World Language Program Receives Donna Clementi Award
The Hortonville Area School District is pleased to announce that the World Language program has been awarded the Donna Clementi Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in World Language Programs. The Donna Clementi award, given by WAFLT (Wisconsin Association for Language Teachers), is awarded to one school annually. The school chosen must meet specific criteria that shows how their world language program is exemplary in multiple categories, such as percentage of students enrolled in language programs at various levels, curriculum alignment with national and state standards, staffing qualifications, evidence of advocating language learning, and also program and student success.
Janet Rowe, an HHS CAPP/AP Spanish teacher as well as the District Coordinator of World Languages, explains why she feels the World Language program in the HASD has been so successful:
“Our program is so successful because of the personnel collaborating with each other, working on curriculum, and teaching and promoting languages at every opportunity. They work together to ensure consistency between the same classes, as well as vertical alignment within the curriculum so that our students are always progressing in their language skills. They work hard to make language learning relevant to students by engaging them in real world tasks with the language.”
Students in the HASD are given the opportunity to start their quest to learning world languages in elementary school; German and Spanish are taught in grades 2-5 with 97.5% of students participating. In middle school (grades 6-8), 79.5% of students are participating, and the high school program has 43.6% of students enrolled in German, Spanish, or French.
Of the students enrolled in a world language program in high school, 35.2% are enrolled in advanced courses. These advanced courses give students the ability to earn college credit; they can enroll in the UW-Oshkosh Cooperative Academic Partnership Program (CAPP 248) course and earn 5 college credits with the possibility of earning 11 retro-credits if they pass the course with a B or better. There are numerous cases of students having graduated from HHS with 18 or 23 college credits in world language already completed. Another important aspect to note is that those students who continue their language study at the university level after taking 4-6 years of Spanish or German generally place into a 4th or 5th semester college level course.
Not only are students given extensive classroom instruction, but they also have the option to further develop their language skills by studying abroad. Students can study in Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, and Germany, just to name a few. These trips always involve a home stay, and often times, attending language school. German Club and Spanish Honor Society are organizations outside the classroom that upper level German and Spanish students have the opportunity to join as well.
From this information, it is evident why the world language program in our district is so deserving of such an award.
“This acknowledgment is a statewide recognition of what our district WLOE program has achieved—a long-sequence of language learning for our students beginning in the second grade, and a standards-based program focused on student progress in learning to both comprehend and communicate in a second language. The HASD world language program is a model for other districts because our students are achieving at a very high level of language proficiency.”
Janet Rowe, CAPP/AP Spanish teacher
District Coordinator of World Languages
For more information on the Donna Clementi Award and the WAFLT, visit the links below:
Donna Clementi Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in World Language Programs
WAFLT Website