![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
Being bilingual fosters new connections, promotes cultural exchange and enhances knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
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.
