Last Friday, Spanish Club students attended the Alabama Federation of Spanish Clubs Convention. They had the opportunity to compete in the literary recitation, native, scrapbook, poster design, t-shirt design, culture bowl, and vocabulary contests, in which they won the following awards:

Meenu Bhooshanan- 1st place Literary Recitation Level 1

Cristina Bolton- 1st place Scrapbook

Kiera Risher- 1st place Scrapbook

Francisco Padilla- 1st place Literary Recitation, Native

Elisa Castañeda-  1st place T-shirt Design, 2nd place Poster Design

Jazi Atassi- 3rd place Literary Recitation Level 3

Keona Banks- 3rd place Literary Recitation Level 4

Kaitlyn Gallaspy- 3rd place Literary Recitation Level 2

Laura Lewis, Arnav Mathur, Dani McDowell, and Cassie Rehage- 3rd place Culture Bowl

Josh Marion- 4th place Vocabulary Level 3

Laura Pugh- 4th place Poster Design

Mrs. Clough, a Spanish teacher, stated, “Spanish Convention is a great opportunity for students to meet and compete with other students studying Spanish from across the state and to display all of the things they have been learning in class. It is also an opportunity to celebrate all of the richness of Hispanic culture and language.”

She also commented that the convention is more than just a competition. After competing, students can attend Latin dance lessons and watch talent demonstrations and entertainment.

“Everyone’s day at Spanish Convention is different because there is a lot of different competitions like art, talent, and grammar. I competed in Culture Bowl, which was really fun. It’s like the Spanish version of Scholar’s Bowl. Students should go because there is something for everyone to do there,” commented Laura Lewis, a Spanish Convention competitor.

According to the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts website, Renate Latimer, Associate Professor Emerita of German, stated that studying a foreign language enhances listening skills, memory, and creativity while expanding one’s view of the world.

Cristina Bolton, a junior Spanish Convention competitor, expressed, “I have gone to Spanish Convention for the last two years. I really love going because it’s a great learning experience and it has taught me tons about different cultures around the world. During the day of the convention, there are students that have the same passions as you do. They are striving to be the very best and represent their school in the best way possible. It’s also a great bonding experience with other students who are learning to speak another language.”

As students can see, foreign language clubs and classes are great opportunities that all students should consider. The skills, relationships, and experiences formed will be helpful for many years to come.