In addition to Spanish instruction in the older grades, there was a strong program for world languages for the younger students. Click here to read more about (Link to Teaching World Languages in the Elementary School and The Beatrice Bultena Years 1956-1960 to be added)

Spanish Program 1960-1993

A curricular guide reveals how the Spanish Program had evolved in the secondary school by the late 1960s—after Beatrice Bultena’s departure in 1960. All 7th and 8th grade students were required now to take Spanish courses, save for a few who took a reading improvement course in their stead. Classes met for half a period a day (25 minutes) for one semester in conjunction with typing in the other half-period, and on alternate days for one semester in conjunction with industrial arts and homemaking.

During these two years the junior high students were expected to achieve the following goals:

1. Cultivation of a proper attitude toward the new language. (The student was brought to realize that the language is a complete system of communication within itself and not a code of English; that “meanings” do not exist exclusively in English.)

2. Acquisition of the ability to understand the spoken language within the limits of the classroom experience.

3. Mastery of the sound system of the language; the acquisition of acceptable pronunciation and intonation habits.

4. Mastery of the most common morphological and syntax patterns and forms used in speech.

5. Mastery of a limited vocabulary which contains only content words of high frequency in speech at the student’s level of maturity but most of the function and conjunctive words used in speech.

6. An introduction to the culture of the country through areas relating to the pupil’s own experience and to those developed in the units studied.

A Language Laboratory had been introduced in the early 1960s and this was used for “practicing of patterns and for the presentation of enrichment materials.” Away from the Lab, “basic material [was] acquired through the mimicry-memorization of basic dialogues illustrative of the patterns to be learned, then [through] intensive practice of these patterns through substitution, transformation, and expansion drills until they [became] habits.”

High school Spanish classes met for a full 55-minute period five days a week in the late 1960s. Ninth graders found more focus on reading skills. Tenth graders read complete works in a broad range of both content and style and wrote directed compositions. Classes were “conducted almost entirely in Spanish and [were] largely based on class discussion of assigned readings.” Juniors and seniors began reading classic Spanish literature and their writing instruction emphasized stylistics. The students communicated with Spanish nationals through correspondence and interviews.

In 1975, two members of the North Central Association evaluation team evaluated the Lab School Language Program: Howard Hathaway, Supervisor of World Languages for the St. Paul Public Schools in Minnesota, and James Bush, Chair of the Social Science Department at East High School in Des Moines. The two praised the Language Department’s faculty, calling them “energetic and creative individuals, exhibiting a wide variety of teaching techniques, such as the use of tapes, overhead projector, games, individualized instruction, student reports, and University of Northern Iowa participant contributions.” They noted that the students liked the small classes and the opportunity to work in small groups with the participants.

The evaluators also lauded the “extremely wide variety of print and non-print materials” made available to the students, and the faculty’s “excellent job of keeping up with newly issued materials.” However, they noted what would become a continuing theme: matters of space. Could a room be found so that the elementary language teachers wouldn’t have to move from room to room, carting equipment and materials with them? Could the Language Lab be reinvigorated? Did the offices of the Spanish and French teachers need to be separate? Could they be combined? Could room 219 be made into “an inviting, attractive teaching station and resource center?" Might such spatial upgrades foster even clearer articulation of goals across the unfolding programs?

But overall, the evaluators gave high marks to the Language Program, noting its important role in the state:

“In addition to the activities observed, the evaluators received oral report of field trips, foreign language plays, and classroom visits by native speakers. The staff does indeed have the ability to meet the needs of both its own students and the language teachers of Iowa. It should be noted that this staff and facility are particularly important to Iowa since there is no state leadership in the field. Statewide needs are being met to some degree, as exemplified by the publications and dissemination of a statewide newsletter in French [by James Becker], sponsorship of a statewide language festival [by the entire Lab School language faculty], and teacher inservice projects.”

Program descriptions in 1982 report that the 7th and 8th grade Spanish students worked with units from the Scott Foresman text Churros y Chocolate (Hot Chocolate and Doughnuts). Almost 80 percent of class time was devoted to “oral activities using visual cues stressing oral accuracy.” Students were expected to have “native-like intonation and pronunciation”—achieved through class visits and interaction with native speakers but also through practice in skits, games, and preparation of native foods.

The ninth grade Spanish students continued with units from Churros y Chocolate, while the students in grades 10, 11, and 12 also made use of the Scott Foresman second-level text Plazas and Paisajes (Plazas and Landscapes). An “audio-visual approach to Spanish learning” characterized these higher grades. “Native-like intonation and pronunciation” were continuing goals and the concentration on the oral use of the language emphasized structures that allowed the students personal expression of their ideas and interests. Continued cultural awareness was fostered through films, slides, celebration of Spanish holidays, preparation of foods, and exhibits of Spanish artifacts, books, and magazines—capped off with a trip to Mexico.

The North Central Conference evaluators in 1982 found much to praise. “Upon entering the classrooms, one is very much aware that a foreign language is spoken there,” one evaluator wrote. “This is demonstrated by the abundance of realia, posters, etc. The classrooms are true cultural islands.” The evaluators also called the texts used in the junior and senior high school “excellent choices” that “will help students to communicate in the language.” They praised the “wealth of supplemental materials” and declared that “In foreign language, MPLS serves as a depot of materials for the teachers of the state.” Noting that Iowa language teachers came to look over the variety of materials housed in the language department, they observed that “This service is given very freely and is encouraged by the staff. Materials of all kinds are provided, both print and non-print.”

This led the evaluators to suggest “a developing potential” for the Lab School. It could serve as “a center for the state for the use of microcomputers for foreign language instruction.” To this end, the on-going need for enhanced facilities arose: “There is a most urgent need for all of the foreign language staff to be housed in a common area.” This would invite greater dialogue and might “result in a more common set of goals and curriculum and a sharing of ideas and problems.” The evaluators suggested that after 26 years, the Elementary Spanish Program had been in existence long enough to justify a “true empirical evaluation of its effectiveness,” even though current teachers were happy with the program for the most part. Any new language teacher hired, the evaluators urged, should have demonstrated expertise in elementary-level language teaching.

In summation, the evaluators found the faculty should be commended for “their enthusiasm for teaching foreign languages and students, and their dedication to the profession locally, statewide, regionally, and nationally.” Most of the staff, they noted, “is known or is becoming known well beyond Cedar Falls, Iowa. A high commendation is [also] in order for the staff’s insistence on a high standard of pronunciation and the use of the languages in communicative situations.”

A decade later, an evaluation of the language program during the 1992-1993 school year cited a long list of “Strengths.” It noted that the elementary Spanish program was “oral proficiency based using the ‘Noviciadas’ (Novitiates) program . . . created by the teacher.” (Link to be added: Noviciadas section of “The Argelia Hawley Years”) During National Foreign Language Week, the elementary Spanish students hosted a “Fiesta de Amistad” (Fiesta of Friendship) where distinguished community members were given the title of “amigos” (friends). Another activity was “El Rastro” (the Flea Market). (Link to El Rastro section of “The Argelia Hawley Years]  The evaluators found that the Lab School showcased “an excellent framework for 12 years of Spanish study.” Nevertheless, they suggested the school search for ways to strengthen the Spanish secondary sequence to counter the drop in Spanish enrollment for a third or fourth year. One answer: more consistent opportunities for student travel to Hispanic countries.

Lab School Spanish faculty contributed to the fact that during the 1992-1993 school year, 70 percent of the School’s high school students were studying a modern language. The evaluators noted that the Department’s faculty were “nationally recognized teachers, researchers and [were] active leaders in national, regional and state language associations” and that they were “leaders in modern language learning methods and technology.” The Department had “access to and uses the latest computer technology.” Furthermore, most teachers conducted their classes exclusively in the target language, creating “lively give and take in this language.” 

The evaluators found “enthusiasm for learning languages . . . evident among the students at all levels.” The evaluators urged increases of budgets, secretarial help, computer access and—of course—more space: “There is no Spanish room for the elementary program. The teacher must carry all her materials from room to room and cannot set up or create a ‘Spanish’ atmosphere.” Ominously (in terms of the Lab School’s final two decades) came the first time observation that “There is a certain malaise in the department due to many administrative changes.”

The Spanish program from 1964 to 1993, unlike the School’s administrative changes from 1986 on, offered much continuity. Faculty members included Pablo Casado (1960-1963) and Andrea Busot (1963-1964), but then Rosa Maria Escudé de Findlay (1964-2001) and James Price (1965-1983).

Price took Spanish students to Spain and Mexico. In and out of the classroom, Price and Findlay advocated strongly for Hispanic people and culture. In May 1984, the year after his retirement, Price served as a Witness for Peace on the Nicaragua-Honduras border. This national organization had found that “witnesses” helped present violent attacks.