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About 510 public school students from North Carolina gathered at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) on Thursday, March 5, to participate in the fourth year of “Conexiones para la Acción Diplomática,” a global diplomacy simulation conducted entirely in Spanish.
The event, organized in collaboration with Participate Learning, a global educational organization, included participation from 28 NC public schools, most of them from rural areas across the state.
Approximately 27% of middle school students come from Spanish-speaking households, and the majority are enrolled in Spanish immersion programs.
“The goal is to improve language proficiency with topics that affect all of us, global issues, and for students to complete projects in their schools,” Jason Strauss, senior manager at Participate Learning, told Enlace Latino NC.
Which schools participated?
The 28 participating middle schools came from 13 counties:
| County | School |
| Alamance | Southern Alamance Middle School |
| Alamance | Turrentine Middle School |
| Alamance | Woodlawn Middle School |
| Buncombe | AC Reynolds Middle School |
| Buncombe | Cane Creek Middle School |
| Burke | Walter Johnson Middle School |
| Cabarrus | Kannapolis Middle School |
| Cabarrus | Roberta Road Middle School |
| Cumberland | New Century International Middle School |
| Edgecombe | Martín Millennium Academy |
| Harnett | Dunn Middle School |
| Harnett | Coats-Erwin Middle School |
| Harnett | Western Harnett Middle School |
| Harnett | Highland Middle School |
| Harnett | Harnett Central Middle School |
| Nash | Southern Nash Middle School |
| Nash | Rocky Mount Middle School |
| New Hanover | International School at Gregory |
| Randolph | North Asheboro Middle School |
| Rockingham | Rockingham County Middle School |
| Union | Piedmont Middle School |
| Union | Porter Ridge Middle School |
| Union | Weddington Middle School |
| Union | Sun Valley Middle School |
| Union | Parkwood Middle School |
| Union | East Union Middle School |
| Union | Health Sciences Academy at Monroe Middle School |
| Wake | Oberlin Middle School |
An idea born with a teacher from Colombia
It actually all started with a teacher in our ‘Conexiones’ program who held a debate between her students and students in Colombia,” Strauss said.
Adriana Rueda, the teacher Strauss referred to, told Enlace Latino NC that the idea was born “about 10 years ago.”
I previously worked at a school in Colombia where they held Model UN, so the idea came from a connection I made with the school I worked at, and my students were very interested,” Rueda said.
For 2 years, the event was conducted virtually with a school in Colombia until the idea reached Strauss.
“We shared this with the other teachers at the time and decided, why don’t we do this among all the schools?” Strauss said.
The idea that started with Rueda has grown into one of the biggest bilingual immersion programs in North Carolina, uniting teachers and students.
This year, 50 students from the UNCG School of Education also had the opportunity to volunteer at the event, some of them leading campus tours entirely in Spanish.
Marisa González, a Spanish professor at UNCG who had 14 of her students participate in the tours, told Enlace Latino NC that, through the opportunities to practice Spanish provided by the program for middle school and college students, the event encourages bilingualism in the state.
The importance of promoting bilingualism in school programs
For González, bilingualism is important because “you can speak with two different populations and feel closer to your heritage and to the people you have grown up with and been involved with.”
The program seeks to promote bilingualism through debate, which is held entirely in Spanish. According to Rueda, this has created pride among students.
“The children truly feel very proud to come represent their countries and to do so in Spanish. They seem very, very proud of their ability to speak another language,” Rueda said. They appear very, very proud of their ability to speak another language”.
The program also helps them develop skills such as critical thinking and empathy, which are linked to culture and learning another language.
“It helps them connect across cultures and countries of heritage, and develop the empathy needed to live in a multicultural society,” Augusto Peña, director of the UNCG Office of Intercultural Engagement, told Enlace Latino NC.
According to Strauss, 60% of the world’s population speaks two or more languages, compared with only 20% of the U.S. population and 12% of North Carolina’s population.
“Speaking two or more languages truly is a superpower because it is so rare and unique among so few people, and it opens doors, it opens opportunities for each person in their professional and personal life,” Strauss said.
A program that opens minds and doors for the future
Peña said the program allows students to practice the languages they are learning at home or at school and recognize their value.
“That they see that language serves them for life, serves them for education, serves them for careers, and empowers us to feel more proud of the cultures we carry within us,” Peña said.
As with Peña, the other educators emphasized the importance of continuing to practice the language their parents taught them at home.
“It is even more important for their future careers or different places they may go,” González said.
“It is often said that when you speak two languages, you are worth double, and I firmly believe that. So the message is to keep studying Spanish because you will see that it will always open many more doors,” she added.
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