¡Freshmen Fiesta!

Due to the rule change allowing eighth graders to take Pre-Ap Spanish I, freshmen will tag along with sophomores in pre-AP Spanish II, affecting both classes.

“The vast majority of them [sophomores] seem to know what they are doing right now and seem very well prepared, and in the overall scheme of things it isn’t going to make that much of a difference to the sophomores with having a lot of freshman in class,”  Pre-Ap Spanish II teacher Ethan Shaw said.

Several freshmen dropped the class and, “there is no shame in it,” Shaw said, but not everyone is struggling.

“I think I was prepared really well. I had a good teacher and he did a really good job,” freshman Tyler Caswell said.

However Shaw would still prefer freshmen to take Spanish I at Rider because he has the ability to “monitor what is going on and make suggestions.”

“They are at a disadvantage in my opinion from what I’ve seen so far,” Shaw said. “I think that I am spending enough time in the beginning that any deficiency they have, I should be able to address those appropriately and get them up to speed.”

Some sophomores don’t mind the extra time to jog their memory.

“I enjoy that Mr. Shaw is going through the basics to make sure we fully understand and can continue to build on that,” sophomore Diane Nguyen said.

Although it doesn’t seem that Shaw will be slowed down for long.

“I’m pretty much a slave driver, so I’ll make up time for speed later,” Shaw said.

The curriculum hasn’t changed and the “expectations are the same” Shaw said, but Caswell doesn’t seem bothered by the large workload.

“There is a good amount of work, but that’s what is really required in everything you do especially as a freshmen doing Spanish II. It’s expected,” Caswell said.

Caswell said that the pace is “a little bit faster,” but he will not be deterred so easily and suggests other eighth graders to take Spanish I in middle school as well.

“When you get it [Spanish I] done in eighth grade you get your education finished faster. So I would recommend it,” Caswell said.

Shaw said the “instructors are better here,” and does not recommend middle school Spanish I and Nguyen agrees.

“I feel like the way junior high teachers teach is on a lower level than high school.”