Students enrolled in Nelvis Calderin’s Spanish 2 classes had the opportunity to practice their skills in a real-world scenario, centered around food preparation. The hands-on assignment made up their final assessment for the semester.

“I decided to plan a summative assessment that was interactive, in which the students had the opportunity to use Spanish for real-life purposes with a focus on proficiency as opposed to a traditional test because my ultimate goal is for my students to be able to communicate in the target language,” Calderin said. 

For the assignment, students worked with the Spanish-speaking staff from SAGE, taking their orders for sandwiches and wraps. They then proceeded to prepare the items. 

 “I thought that the idea of inviting the chefs and kitchen personnel would add a ‘realistic’ touch to the assessment since they were not focused on what my students learned in class. They simply spoke Spanish as they usually do, and that’s real life,”  Calderin said.

During the test, the roles were reversed with the members of SAGE being the ones who were placing the orders and the students listening and preparing the orders.

“I found it kinda ironic and funny that we were preparing food for SAGE workers and they were giving orders to students,” freshman Jeese Kaplan said.

For the students, this was a more exciting final exam compared to a written assessment.

“I really loved it because I could actually use my newfound knowledge and interact with the faculty,” sophomore Easton McCarthy-Levy said. 

 SAGE members saw the experience as a great opportunity to help out a new generation of students who wanted to learn Spanish. 

“It felt very good to help the kids out,” Chef Monica Poey said. “ To be able to help expand the culture is a blessing,” said Poey.