Community High School District 155
PR's World Language Week Opens Up New Frontiers
Monday started off the week with a great movie produced by sophomore Katelyn Horgan that emphasized how learning a language opens up the world. Other students celebrated the start of World Language Week by creating buttons, designing t-shirts, and decorating the halls. Each subsequent day during the week was packed with exciting activities and assignments for students both enrolled in foreign language courses and those interested in learning more--as Horgan's video suggested--about the world.
On Tuesday, five different organizations presented information about the benefits of studying abroad. The presenters provided information on short- and long-term stays abroad and scholarship opportunities. Prairie Ridge's three foreign exchange students played an active and authentic part in all presentations.
Senior foreign language classes met the school's foreign exchange students on Wednesday to learn about the exchange students' home cultures and challenges they are facing while living abroad.
More than 500 students wore their World Language Week T-shirts on Thursday, making it a colorful and fashionable day at PRHS. Senior Sadie Frey designed the official t-shirts, while some students even created their own World Language Week-themed attire.
The week's centerpiece event and highlight came with Thursday night's World Language Week Party. Students tasted authentic Mexican, French, and German cuisine and played games from around the world. Meanwhile other students learned to salsa dance or to be in a Tour de France-style race.
"With all the diversity at the Prairie Ridge World Language Week party, one thing was held in common with all students: a smiling face," according to German Club President, senior Henry Luecht. "From the ethnic food to the attempts to sing the Beatles 'She Loves You' in
German, the WLW party was a major success on every level."
The entire week featured authentic meals prepared in the PR cafeteria, giving the entire school a taste of what the world outside has to offer. For Prairie Ridge's students, World Language Week offered exposure to a more worldly view, and allowed foreign language students to learn about the cultures behind the languages taught in the classroom.
To view pictures from the week, see the World Language Week section on the Prairie Ridge Web site.