![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
In El Escudo’s first bilingual podcast, writers Azul Cepero Cortes, Maggie Coulbourn, and Ava Deviney discuss their experience learning a second language.
Both Ava Deviney and Maggie Coulbourn began learning Spanish in preschool, for Maggie as part of a dual language program, and for Ava through a Spanish language immersion school. Azul began learning English at age 10 in a bilingual school in Mexico before transitioning to a primarily English-speaking school in the United States. Each form of learning offers its perks and drawbacks, but all are successful pathways to language fluency in time.
Learning a second language has many benefits in addition to having twice the vocabulary. Being bilingual fosters new connections, promotes cultural exchange and enhances knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Coulbourn shares her experiences teaching and mentoring Spanish-speaking children through McCallum PALS and swim lessons. These interactions allowed her to feel more comfortable speaking and connecting with kids in Spanish. Cepero Cortes uses both languages daily to communicate with different people in her life, whether it be school and dance class in English or work and family life in Spanish. Deviney speaks bilingually to communicate with a diverse group when volunteering on the weekends.
From immersion schools to dual language programs to immigrating to the U.S., our three hosts can agree that no matter what way you choose to learn another language, it will be a valuable and gratifying experience.
Intro music: “Gypsy Jazz Guitar (Relaxing Acoustic Nylon Guitar)” by William_King. Accessed on Pixabay.com. Used with permission under the Pixabay Content License.
This story was originally published on The Shield Online on April 1, 2024.