Over the years, Klein schools have been slowly eliminating foreign language courses, leaving Spanish as one of the students’ only options.
“We are in Texas, and we do have those Mexican roots,” Spanish teacher Renata Fernandez said. “It makes it more fun to learn a language that you actually do and can use around, and not just with Latinos, you can use it with people in the U.S.”
Out of all the Klein schools, Klein Oak is the last school to still offer German because it’s part of the IB Programme.
“I’m the only German teacher left in the district. Thankfully, I have a great team of other foreign language teachers to collaborate with,” Alexandra Wirth said.
Because she’s the only German teacher, she had to carry the entire load.
“I have all levels from level one all the way through AP German and also IB German. It’s a lot of different things, and some of my classes are also [mixed] at different levels and class periods,” wirth said.
According to the French teacher the number of French students has declined since COVID, but actions are being put in place to bring interest back. With more awareness, information, and student organizations activity, French will become a more popular choice for students again.
“I think they’re doing a great job of trying to fill back up,” Danya Brady said. “We try to talk to the counselors to help them spread it during course selection time. We try to make sure they know the options that are available for students besides Spanish.”
Due to low enrollment, teachers may also lose their jobs due to the fact that the foreign language courses are being cut from the schools.
“It just depends on student growth. If the population of students that take the language doesn’t grow. Then it’s a likely possibility,” Brady said. “ If the teachers are qualified in another teaching subject, then they may not lose their job altogether.”
Despite the chance of losing their job, world language teachers stay fueled by their love for their subject and teaching young minds.
“In my previous job, I was able to teach students that were coming in to learn the profession of dental assisting. I did that for 10 years,” Spanish teacher Ely Ramirez said. “Those moments where I had to pass on my knowledge and share my experiences in that field was very satisfying.”
Another new option is making its way into the curriculum despite a push for spoken languages.
“Klein Cain has had a very successful American Sign Language program, but in the other languages, unfortunately, we do not have enough interest at the middle school level,” Fernandez said. “Where the kids begin, we do have German, we do have French, but more and more, Spanish seems to be the language that we are more comfortable with learning.”
