News and Features

Spanish Immersion Program

The Spanish Immersion program begins with the first grade at the Locust Grove Campus of Lancaster Mennonite School. Each year an additional grade will be added. For 2012-13, Spanish Immersion is offered in grades one and two.

The program, targeted for English-speaking students, initially will be used in all core subjects. Subjects such as music, art, and physical education will continue to be taught in English. In third grade the number of subjects taught in Spanish will begin to decrease. Students should be in the program for about six years.

The goal of language immersion is for students to become proficient in a second language and to develop cultural awareness—both while also meeting the academic standards the school has set for each grade level. Students develop proficiency in the language by hearing and using it in regular subject areas rather than by studying the language by itself.

Meet the Teacher

Jennifer Esbenshade, New Holland, teaches the first grade Spanish Immersion class. Esbenshade is a graduate of Messiah College and has a master’s in ESL/Spanish/bi-lingual education from Penn State University. She taught ESL in the Donegal School District for two years and was an ESL instructor at Penn State for two years. From 2000-2003 she taught a variety of courses in Spanish at a community school in Guatemala during a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) missions assignment. Since her return she has been an instructor of Spanish at the Lancaster campus of Eastern Mennonite University and a part-time Spanish teacher at Lititz Area Mennonite School.

Esbenshade, whose son is enrolled in the first class, learned about the program well before she was invited to teach it. She says the new program is “a dream come true” for her family who lives in a school district that does not offer such a program.

Having studied linguistics in the undergraduate and graduate levels, Esbenshade knows how malleable children’s brains are in learning a second or even third language. And she knows firsthand how tough it is to learn to speak Spanish fluently as an adult. That’s why she tried hard to have her young son learn Spanish in their home. But when young Davin discovered he didn’t have to use the language to communicate with his parents, the efforts became a struggle. Esbenshade believes the Spanish Immersion program at Locust Grove will be much different.

"Being in a school setting that provides applicable uses of the language while also hearing friends speak the language will really give our son—and all students—the boost they need to try to communicate in Spanish,” she said.

Esbenshade believes the immersion program opens doors to those who participate.

"Our three-year service with MCC in Guatemala changed our lives,” she said about her and her husband. “We are forever grateful for that opportunity and know that it was a much more meaningful experience because we could speak Spanish so well. I hope these children also will take on such challenges in their future.

"Speaking Spanish will be one more skill that will allow them to interact with other people here in the U.S. and in other countries in ways that show they are culturally open and that they care enough about others to learn their language.”

In addition to the immersion program, Locust Grove continues to offer the Spanish language/culture program as a standard part of the curriculum for all students in PreK-8. Persons interested in more information about Spanish immersion or the Locust Grove educational program as a whole should contact Principal Judi Mollenkof at 394-7107.

Lancaster Mennonite School, which also includes the Kraybill, Lancaster and New Danville campuses, believes its world language program is a key to global understanding and that it will provide important career skills for the 21st century. A global emphasis, long a hallmark of LMS, is an outgrowth of the school’s connections in the global Christian movement. Its vision for global connections has shaped curriculum, including the existing Spanish language/culture programs, at all four campuses.

Important Information about the Spanish Immersion Program

Lancaster Mennonite School offers a Spanish Immersion Program beginning with grade one at the Locust Grove Campus. Each year an additional grade will be added so that students should be in an immersion program for about six years. Students will begin the program in first grade and continue it through sixth grade with a decreasing percent of time spent in Spanish at the intermediate grades. To ensure a space in the Spanish Immersion Program, families should fill out a commitment form.

• Commitment form
• Brochure

Through this immersion program, students will become functionally proficient in Spanish and also will meet the academic standards LMS has set for their grade levels. In addition, students will grow in global awareness and cultural sensitivity. Through Spanish Immersion students will meet all academic standards of Lancaster Mennonite School along with developing proficiency in Spanish language communication. This program will prepare students to be life-long learners who are transformed through Christ to change our world.

The Benefits of the Spanish Immersion Program

Research shows that learning a second language helps students learn their own language better than those who know only one language. In addition to learning the important skill of communicating in a second language, students will also develop academic skills that transfer to other academic disciplines. Learning a second language at an early age helps to develop divergent thinking, verbal abilities, listening skills, general reasoning and concept formation.

Recognizing that young children learn language more readily than older children, Lancaster Mennonite School already offers Spanish at all three of its elementary campuses, using an enrichment/appreciation approach at the elementary level. In addition to the current Spanish enrichment program for all students, Locust Grove offers a traditional Spanish I course in eighth grade, preparing students for Spanish II at the high school level. At the high school, opportunities for formal Spanish instruction go all the way up to Advanced Placement Spanish. All Lancaster Mennonite campuses also bring Spanish into school life and culture through meals prepared by LMS food services, music performance and literature selection.

From the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages:

It is critical that foreign language instruction be available to all students throughout their PK-12 academic experience. Knowing other languages and understanding other cultures is a 21st Century skill set for American students as they prepare to live and work in a global society. No matter what career students enter, they will be interacting with others around the world on a routine basis and doing business locally with those whose native language is not English.

Beginning foreign language instruction early sets the stage for students to develop advanced levels of proficiencies in one or more languages. In addition, younger learners still possess the capacity to develop near native-like pronunciation and intonation in a new language. Finally, young learners have a natural curiosity about learning which is evident when they engage in learning a new language. They also are open and accepting of people who speak other languages and come from other cultures.