In the Fall of the 2009-2010 school year, the Hawthorne ELP launched its parent-funded Spanish language program. All ELP students in grades K-6 receive conversational, immersion-style Spanish instruction three days a week in 20-30-minute blocks during the school day. Research shows this type of small-block learning, reinforced throughout the week, to be an effective way to learn a foreign language. Many Hawthorne ELP students are ready to take advanced Spanish classes upon graduating elementary school.
In 2017, Maestra Anyela Bennett Rodriguez joined Hawthorne ELP as Spanish instructor. She is a native of Venezuela. Maestra Anyela teaches the competencies identified by the Utah World Languages Core Standards.
The ELP Spanish program at Hawthorne, like other ELP enrichment activities, has been funded entirely by contributions from the families in our program. We are incredibly grateful for a generous 3-year matching grant of $5,000 per year we received for 2022-2025 from an anonymous community foundation to help support our foreign language program. Parents are encouraged to donate but are not required to make a financial contribution. The Spanish program is provided to all ELP students at Hawthorne, regardless of whether any donation or contribution is made.
