ORWELL — Grand Valley High School is home to a variety of different extracurricular activities, organizations and clubs. One of these clubs is the up and coming World Language Club. This year, the Grand Valley World Language Club has grown and is doing tremendous volunteer work within our community.
The World Language Club is composed mostly of French and Spanish high school students of various levels; however, the club is open to any high school student. Shari McCaslin, Grand Valley French teacher, and Link Jerome, Grand Valley Spanish teacher, are the adult advisers of the World Language Club, but it is mostly run by the students.
“I’m surprised at the outcome of students this year,” said senior Gina Roberson, World Language Club co-president. “The number of students in World Language Club is great; there are about 38 members. We all work pretty well together, too.”
The enthusiastic club visits the elementary school once a month to teach aspects of the French and Spanish languages to kindergarteners, first graders and second graders. Recently they visited several elementary classes in order to introduce French and Spanish colors and numbers to the students in a creative and fun way.
“When we go down to teach the elementary kids, we do crafts and activities that teach French and Spanish colors, numbers and animals. A lot of them even remember some of the stuff we taught them last year,” said Roberson.
The interactive activities the World Language Club members plan have been met with positive feedback. The members of the club are delighted with the students’ responsiveness to the lessons. While the lessons are designed specifically to engage the elementary students, the World Language Club members also derive a particular enjoyment from these teaching sessions.
However, teaching the importance of foreign languages and cultures to elementary students isn’t the only thing the World Language Club offers to the community. Last winter, the World Language Club hosted a hat, mitten and scarf drive that requested students bring in gently used winter clothing and donate it to their collection. At the close of the drive, the World Language Club had received more than 200 donations, which they then presented to the Country Neighbor located in Orwell. After last year’s fantastic success, the members of the World Language Club are gearing up for the approaching holidays by organizing yet another hat, mitten and scarf drive, making it an annual occurrence.
“It's a privilege to help out the less fortunate,” said senior Abagail Beiter, World Language Club vice president. “The World Language Club isn't just about teaching the elementary, but to come up with ideas to help out the community. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to give!”
From Dec. 3 through Dec. 14, they will be collecting hats, mittens and scarves from willing high school students in hopes to trump last year’s turnout. At the close of the hat, mitten and scarf drive, the members of the World Language Club will present the articles of winter clothing to Country Neighbor located on Maple Street in Orwell.
