Culminating Experience: Nipmuc Regional High School Spanish Dual Exchange Program
The simple premise of the dual exchange program is this: Students from the Santa Teresa School in San Sebastián, Spain will travel to us and stay with Nipmuc students for approximately two weeks in early September. During that time the Santa Teresa students will stay in the homes of Nipmuc students, living the life of a typical Nipmuc student. Next, Nipmuc students will travel to San Sebastián and stay with the families of their Santa Teresa counterparts for approximately two weeks. Ideally, it will be an equal two-way exchange, i.e., the same number of Nipmuc and Santa Teresa students. However, with our special relationship with Santa Teresa, we remain flexible and we plan for the possibility of unequal numbers of students (as we had in 2018, the first year of the exchange).
Nipmuc students will have a total immersion experience. While in San Sebastián they will immerse themselves in the life of the Santa Teresa community and their host families. Accordingly it is the expectation that students will converse in only Spanish while in Spain. While students will get a strong sense of student life at Santa Teresa, they will also explore the history, culture, and environment of San Sebastián. Additionally, excursions will be planned to travel to Madrid and nearby France. In a similar fashion, when Santa Teresa students are here, there will be trips to local attractions such as Boston, Newport, Cape Cod, and Old Sturbridge Village.
The goals of the exchange program are many; however the primary intent is to engender in students a broader, more global perspective. While this program will no doubt push students outside of their comfort zone, it will also build self-confidence, poise, and self-esteem. There are also the obvious benefits of increased language acquisition through this immersion experience. However, the larger goal of acceptance of different cultural and community perspectives remains at the forefront. It is our hope that the connections our students make with their Santa Teresa counterparts will last well beyond the exchange. This is where deep and powerful learning occurs, and we are excited for the possibilities this program offers.
Nipmuc students will have a total immersion experience. While in San Sebastián they will immerse themselves in the life of the Santa Teresa community and their host families. Accordingly it is the expectation that students will converse in only Spanish while in Spain. While students will get a strong sense of student life at Santa Teresa, they will also explore the history, culture, and environment of San Sebastián. Additionally, excursions will be planned to travel to Madrid and nearby France. In a similar fashion, when Santa Teresa students are here, there will be trips to local attractions such as Boston, Newport, Cape Cod, and Old Sturbridge Village.
The goals of the exchange program are many; however the primary intent is to engender in students a broader, more global perspective. While this program will no doubt push students outside of their comfort zone, it will also build self-confidence, poise, and self-esteem. There are also the obvious benefits of increased language acquisition through this immersion experience. However, the larger goal of acceptance of different cultural and community perspectives remains at the forefront. It is our hope that the connections our students make with their Santa Teresa counterparts will last well beyond the exchange. This is where deep and powerful learning occurs, and we are excited for the possibilities this program offers.
The Mendon-Upton Spanish Immersion program is proud to be recognized as one of the International Spanish Academy Schools (ISA), a program of the Spanish Embassy Education Office and the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. Schools that are part of the ISA network are those that provide a high level of Spanish language instruction and whose students meet with academic success in the Spanish language. |