The sizzling of the grill, and the smell of delicious food fills the senses of all the  Spanish IV students as they create and taste their new creations.  They share with their friends, and tell others about their new assignment.  Everyone is excited and antsy for the next time they get to cook in their Spanish class.   

Students made four different dishes over the span of three days, tortillas and guacamole, pupusas, and plátanos en tentación.  The goal was to help students grow their skills when working together, practice reading a recipe, and to help students be more immersed in Spanish culture.  Students were required to bring their own supplies needed for the recipe, and Mrs. McKinnon, the Spanish IV teacher, asked other teachers to bring in the ingredients.  

Amelia Plante, a Spanish IV student, loved working with her group to create the dishes.  She enjoyed trying all the new food, and even tried guacamole for the first time.  She was fascinated by the assignment, and felt it was a “great opportunity to learn more about the culture.”  She found the hardest part to be cleaning up their mess after. However, Mrs. McKinnon found it most difficult to acquire all of the ingredients, as she had to ask other teachers to bring things in.

There was one large bump in the road, as the power in her class kept going out when trying to cook.  Her class continuously blew a fuse due to the mass grills plugged into the outlets.  This led to some inventive thinking by Mrs. McKinnon, who was able to get the students into many different rooms, in order to spread out the grills.  Another problem originated in the platanos, a key ingredient for their final dish.  Mrs. McKinnon admits that the platanos were not of great quality, and that impacted their meal.

Plante found the power going out to be “frustrating and confusing,” as there seemed to be no end to the problem.  However, the quick thinking by her teacher allowed her group to continue with the activity instead of having to give up.  However, Plante found the platanos to be “absolutely disgusting,” due to the poor quality of the platanos.

Despite the problems, both the students and the teacher found the activity to be successful, as everyone had fun, and it was a great way to learn more about other cultures.  Plante described the whole experience as her “favorite assignment this year.”