Two Days at School

On Thursday and Friday, we were at Rosalía de Castro to attend classes.  As you have been learning in your Spanish classes, other countries have typical school days that are very different from ours. Students don't attend every class every day, and our Naperville Central students from this group told us that teachers have much more of a "lecture" style of instruction than we do at our school.

The school building is around 400 years old and has some fantastic architecture:

Although the style is different, you would recognize many things that we also have at our school.  There are pictures of students and information about their activities and awards.  There is a TV in the entry vestibule that has been showing pictures of the exchange groups from the two schools when the Galicians were our guests last Fall.  Works of art and poetry by students hang on the walls of the hallway.  There was even a "bake sale" (donations on the honor system) to raise money for the school's trip to France.

Yesterday, Sra. Gasser and I met with the "Inspector" or the equivalent here of a school district's superintendent.  Like our Superintendent Bridges, he is responsible for the administration of a few dozen schools in and around Santiago.  He explained to us his duties and showed us the criteria he uses when evaluating the effectiveness of his area's schools.  He said that Rosalía de Castro functions very well without much intervention from him!  He also asked Sra. Gasser and me about differences in our educational systems and roles of teachers.  We had a great conversation.

After that, Sr. Inspector attended part of a meeting that our host teachers had arranged for Naperville Central students and the 20 Rosalía de Castro students who will visit us in 2015.  Yes, they have already been chosen and are really excited!

This is a typical classroom at Rosalía de Castro High School.

During the meeting, we showed them March's issue of "Hawk TV," and then our students talked to their students in both Spanish and English.  The Galician students, of course, had many questions about what our school is like and how it is different from theirs.  Talking to our Naperville students now will help them look forward to their visit to us and know a little more about what to expect.

If you would like to host one of these 20 cool Rosalía de Castro students during the end of September and the beginning of October, please let your Spanish teacher know.  We will get you an application some time before the end of our school year in June.