Traditionally, people educated in the United States have not
been obligated to learn another language beyond English. But times have
changed. Globalization, particularly in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, has
elevated the increasing importance of being able to communicate with citizens
from other countries. Increasingly, the second language U.S. citizens are
choosing to learn is Spanish. Trends today show that Americans are studying
Spanish in record numbers. Indeed, education in an international setting is
becoming a top mandate for the American government because people need to
compete economically. According to Business Week for example, more students
studying for an MBA in today's world are choosing to become trilingual by
learning English, French, and Spanish. Moreover, two of the top ten MBA schools
outside the U.S. are located in Spain. Many other reasons compel people to
learn Spanish as a second language. Why is it important to learn Spanish?
First, almost 500 million people worldwide speak Spanish. Even more compelling
is the fact that about half of the population in the Western hemisphere speaks
Spanish, making it the primary language for as many people as English in this
region of the world. Most citizens in South America speak primarily Spanish
(aside from Brazil), as do people living in just about all of Central America,
Mexico, and Latin America—more than 15 countries in total. In addition, within
the United States, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language after
English—by a very wide margin. Third, Spanish is the third-most commonly spoken
language in the world. In contrast, Spanish is spoken in more than 21
countries. Students at Mount Pleasant Academy in South Carolina are getting an
early start at learning foreign language and it’s all thanks to team work and
support from parents. Spanish comes to you at Mount Pleasant Academy, and the
mobile classroom makes frequent stops. Spanish teacher Amanda Palacio says,
“It’s Spanish on wheels. I go to classrooms. Kindergarten through
third grade has me twice a week. Fourth and fifth have me once a week, and I
spend thirty minutes with each class that I go to, and we do an assortment of
things. We play games; we go through a lot of vocabulary. We’ve learned all the
basics like greetings, colors, month, we focus on seasons, but a lot of it has
been practicing conversations.” Foreign language is not funded by the school
district on the elementary levels, so the PTA is footing the bill. This is the
first year for the program at Mount Pleasant Academy. “It’s the pride and joy
of our school. Our PTA worked real hard to raise the funds to have
a Spanish teacher this year. The children love it, the parents love
it. I think it’s definitely an advantage to be exposed to a different culture
and language so we are real excited about it,” says Principal Jane Davis. MPA
is among the highest when it comes to student achievement in the state. The PTA
also raised money for a computer teacher and new playground equipment.
The
U.S. Army is once again joining forces with the United States Hispanic
Leadership Institute (USHLI) to ensure Hispanic youth are prepared to attend
college and become leaders in their communities. As part of this partnership,
the Army will again sponsor and host a leadership workshop at USHLI's annual
conference, Feb. 13-16 in Chicago, where academic and career opportunities are
showcased to the Hispanic community. According to a recent report by the U.S.
Department of Education, Hispanic youth are more likely to drop out of high
school than other groups, and Latino students who attend college are less
likely to graduate than students of other ethnicities. The Army, and
organizations like USHLI, is committed to increasing access to higher
education, leadership development and career opportunities for Hispanic
students. The Army boasts the nation's
largest college scholarship program, investing almost $280 million at more than
1,300 college campuses nationwide through its senior ROTC program. For more
information about scholarship opportunities visit GoArmyROTC. The Army's
commitment to education is also evident via the free resources and programs it
provides to middle school and high school students. The Army-sponsored March 2
Success program is a free web-based learning tool designed to assist educators,
parents and students to prepare for high school entrance and standardized
testing, as well as the ACT and SAT college entrance exams. Parents and
educators interested in learning more about the March 2 Success program should
visit the Web site March2Success.com. For more than ten years, USHLI and the
U.S. Army have worked together to generate awareness and build mutual support
among community leaders and USHLI constituents.
The partnership exists to create, promote and implement education and
leadership training opportunities for youth across the nation. The Army will
continue to support USHLI throughout the year as a sponsor of their Student
Leadership Summits (SLS) professional development seminars that take place
throughout the country and feature nationally prominent motivational speakers. Read full story. 
