Maine Public Broadcasting – Robbie Feinberg
“When Pedro Zamarro teaches his first-grade class, it’s all in Spanish. What’s unusual about it, though, is that Zamarro’s students aren’t from Spain, Mexico or South America. They attend Lyseth Elementary in Portland, which two years ago launched the state’s first public Spanish immersion class for first-graders. Today, students are speaking near-fluent Spanish…He says he’s often surprised at just how well his students pick up the new language…This style of bilingual immersion education isn’t new. Experts estimate that there are more than 1,000 language immersion classrooms nationwide. Schools tout the ways that bilingual education helps students learn problem-solving, empathy and literacy. Lyseth Principal Lenore Williams says it’s a great start for kids who’ll one day be competing for jobs in a global economy. “It’s pretty well known that if you’re going to be successful in the future, bilingualism is going to be a requisite skill. A critical skill,” she says.”(more)