Year of Languages 2005 - St. Joseph High School

Year Of Languages 2005, Celebrations at Saint Joseph High School:

The students and faculty of the World Language Department at Saint Joseph High School are well prepared to celebrate Year Of Languages 2005 with both special and annual events.  A Year of Languages 2005 at Saint Joseph Webpage is in the process of being created to showcase these events.  Please visit us at www.sjcadets.org.   This webpage page will be updated from time to time as new images and events take place.  Events sponsored by the Saint Joseph World Language Department celebrating the Year Of Languages are as follows:

The three World Language National Honor Societies, La Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica-Capítulo Iberoamérica, La Societa Onoraria Italica-Senzione Leonardo DaVinci, and La Société Honoraire de Français-Chapitre Victor Hugo sponsored two fund-raising events to help the poor in Latin America.  Working with Food for the Poor, Inc., the student members sold Banana Bark Christmas Cards and baked sweets to sell to the student body to further support Food for the Poor.  In total the students have raised $1,400.00 for this worthy cause.  A streaming video of the advertisement for the Banana Bark cards and the bake sale created by the students can be accessed on the webpage (coming soon).

Through personal contacts of a member of the Saint Joseph faculty a student from Rosario, Argentina, has decided to spend his summer vacation studying at Saint Joseph from December through February.  Nicolás takes English, Trigonometry, French III and AP Spanish.  Nico has created a presentation for the AP Spanish class which gives a brief review of geography, culture in general and culture specific to his peers.  He has been a tremendous resource and opportunity for student exchange in both Spanish and English. 

Fat Tuesday-Mardi Gras-Carnaval is an annual event at Saint Joseph and is sponsored by the World Language Department for the benefit of the entire Saint Joseph community.  Entrance to the Mardi Gras events are secured with the purchase of special Mardi Gras beads.  All the clubs and honor societies work together to create a series of events which celebrate the beginning of Lent.  A Mardi Gras King and Queen are selected.  The King and Queen wear their crown through out the school day.   They each receive free passes to all Mardi Gras events as well as coupons redeemable for lunch.  Decorations are everywhere.  Students and faculty enter the main hallway of the school through an arch of green, gold and purple balloons.  Half of the first floor classrooms become a festival of French, Italian and Spanish flavors and sounds.  One classroom serves as a center for Italian and French cuisine provided by the members of the Italian and French Clubs under the direction of Mrs. Mary Ann Reid and Mrs. Patricia Marcucci respectively.  Members of the Spanish Club moderated by Mrs. Eileen Wyka and Mrs. Olga Rivera provide flavors of the Latin world in another classroom.  Mr. Greg Semplice always brings one of his Mexican specialties.  There are sessions on the creation of cappuccino and crêpes.  Mardi Gras offers the French Club members the opportunity to share one of the favorite delicacies of the entire student (and faculty) population - crêpes!  Members provide the crêpes and fillings for all attendees to taste, decked out as they are in the beads of the occasion.  Students cancreate their own Mardi Gras masks.  In another room a professional dance instructor teaches Latin dances: merengue, salsa, samba, or rumba.  In still another room students can learn the tarantella.  This year Madame Marcucci’s French Club officers and club members will instruct traditional French folk dances.  All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to participate in the events.  Mrs. Sorrentino, an English teacher, usually dresses up in stilts, wearing a long black tuxedo with a tie sporting the colors of Mardi Gras: green, gold and purple.  The school secretaries are annual visitors to the dance classes.  Music and laughter are everywhere from 2:15 to 4:15 PM.  Each year the event is filmed and many photos are taken.  Everyone has a great time.  A video clip (or images) of last year’s Mardi Gras can be seen on the webpage.

Each year Ms. Tanya Lowell, a member of the English Department, and Mr. Kevin Carey, World Language Department Chairman sponsor a Bi-Lingual Poetry Festival.  Students in Senior and Junior English, Spanish IV, and AP Spanish Language write their own poetry to read at the event.  The event takes place during the hour-long block period of the school schedule.  Students in Spanish are required to write in Spanish and to read their Spanish poem and its English translation.  Students of Spanish who do not have a particular talent in creative writing are allowed to translate the work of important Spanish poets to English, if they are not moved to create their own poem.  Those Spanish poems are selected by Mr. Carey. 

FRENCH CLUB:

French Club activities try to center around aspects of French culture in a casual, fun atmosphere.  The induction meeting involves new members creating a poster of an English proverb and writing the French equivalent on it: the members in attendance must guess the proverb and see the correspondence between its expression in the two languages.  National French Week enables the French Club to showcase, literally, some of the culture that attracts students to its study. Officers and members decorate a display case with French realia and make daily announcements sharing some of the contributions of French society to the world.   At or near his feast day St Nicholas himself visits the members, bringing goodies for their stockings, which have been made by the officers.  French carols, games, and grab bag with a French theme round out the season's celebration.  The Spring occasionally brings a pique-nique (to honor graduating seniors), or on May 1st the Friendship Day flower sale when silk sprigs of lily of the valley are sold to be given to friends and staff throughout the building.

ITALIAN CLUB:

Italian Club is a wonderful place where students come together to celebrate the Italian language and culture.  The club commences in June when the next years Italian IV votes on new officers, based on club attendance.  In September the real fun begins with exciting meetings where the members vote on different field trips and activities to take part in meetings to come. Some of the field trips include Broadway plays, operas, and museums.  This year’s outings, for example, include the Elizabeth Gardener Museum, Phantom of the Opera, and a Michelangelo exhibition.  In winter the club celebrates Christmas with the coming of the Befana, pastries, and cappuccino. During the year there are pasta/pizza parties and outings to restaurants to savor Italian cuisine. The club is always looking forward to new members and new ideas to celebrate Italian culture.

SPANISH CLUB:

Puerto Rico Trip

Krispy Kreme Sales

Spanish Club Christmas Toy Drive for St. Jude’s Outreach Center.

related links

• World Languages Courses of Study
• Department Faculty
• Italian Club
• Spanish Club
• Spanish National Honor Society