On March 31st, 2022, Señora Velasco took her Spanish 4 and 5 students to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln to compete in the 43rd annual Language Fair. I had the pleasure to speak with Señora Velasco about her personal experience with the competition and how she and her students prepared in hopes of bringing home some new trophies for Señora’s collection.

How did you and your students prepare for the competition?

• Students in Spanish 4 and 5 are required to compete. It is part of their grade and required for the class. It is a project that is for the entire unit. (Their) product is their project. They must do two things. But I make the final decisions so that everything can be equal. We work on these during class time almost every day and students are not allowed to work with those who are not in their class period.

What is something that you were looking forward to at the competition?

• Being able to go back to Lincoln, Because UNL canceled the competition 3 years ago. They decided, because they were restricting the languages departments, that an event this size would be too large. UNL did not know if they would have enough people to run it. However with the new department head the decision was made to reinstate the competition. There were some slight changes in the format but almost everything was the same. The judges were graduate students who were working towards their doctorates. 

So when you (used to) go to that competition, you are seen by the same judges for 3 judges. So, since it had been more than 3 years, these judges would see Columbus students with no biases and just be fresh. I was so happy about this because then my students would be seen for just their skills. 

What are all of the different events for students to compete in?

• There is a classification called “Heritage Speakers” which is for students who have Spanish-speaking heritage around them or are native speakers. There are also levels 1 and 2 which are for students who are learning. Poetry, music, and drama are the ones that offer both categories. Art and dance do not have the separate levels and they combine all of the different levels.

What is your personal history with this competition?

• I’ve been taking students since 2006 which is when the school decided to do AP Spanish. So, the first group that i took was my AP Spanish students which had a class size of 6 students. Then, it was then about 3ish times later when I began to utilize it as something else for the students to do. At first it was optional, but it was not taken seriously by the students. I wanted this to be very meaningful, I wanted it to be something memorable for the students in my class and would be something they think of forever. I wanted it to be a change for them to experience and grow their skills. That is when I made it mandatory, and, throughout that, I saw how important it became to the people involved and it then became serious and it became a big part of the class.

As a student who has competed in the Language Fair these past two years, I can say this: Señora is a fiercely competitive woman who cares about her students and about them representing both Columbus High School and the culture of world languages. Thank you to Señora for all that she has done in making Spanish class one of my most important life lessons.

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