Front Range Christian School Students Cross Cultural Barriers | Community Spirit

On a recent fall morning, Dani Lanting, a sophomore from Front Range Christian School, entered the front doors of Denver Seminary. As she arrived, Dani encountered dozens of Hispanic men and women gathering for class, all of them speaking Spanish. “To be perfectly honest, I was extremely nervous about going to a place where everyone spoke Spanish,” Dani later admitted. As she reached the back of the main hallway, Dani joined her classmates, all of whom were both nervous and excited about their first-ever Spanish immersion experience in Littleton, Colorado.

These 35 students from Front Range Christian School were accompanied by their Spanish teacher, Jeff Haanen, to Denver Seminary’s IDEAL Institute, a lay-level theological school for Spanish -speakers in Denver. “My purpose in giving the assignment,” said Haanen, “was to challenge my students to cross a cultural barrier and to use their Spanish speaking skills in a ‘real world’ setting. I believe that learning to speak another language is easiest when done in the context of real people and real lives.” Opportunities for this type of engagement abound in Colorado, as there are close one half million Spanish-speaking residents throughout the state. He commented, “I simply wanted my students to have a human experience. I knew they would do well, but they exceeded all of my expectations.”

While at first apprehensive, many of the Front Range Christian students opened up, as they were warmly greeted by Hispanic students of the IDEAL Institute. As Julie Kaspari put it, “After attending this event, my perspective on the whole excursion changed. Before I went, I was expecting it to be pretty bad,” she confessed. “But when I got there, the people were so nice and welcoming.” 

Between conversations over snacks and joining the class lectures, one student saw the purpose for her Spanish classes for the first time. Leigh Griffiths, a sophomore at Front Range Chrisitan, said, “I love being able to apply what I have worked so hard to learn; it makes me feel like my Spanish classes actually have a purpose.”

In an effort to bridge the gap between the burgeoning Colorado Hispanic population and the surrounding Anglo community, Mr. Haanen’s students will be taking more of these “excursions” throughout the school year. Trips are planned to Spanish-speaking churches, community organizations like North Littleton Promise, and Denver’s famous Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Kyle O’Keefe, a junior at Front Range Christian, exclaimed, “I’m so glad I attended the IDEAL Institute of Denver Seminary, and I am looking forward to the next time we go out and spend time in the Spanish-speaking community.”

By Jeff Haanen
http://www.frcs.org