Olé, olé, olé! Spanish students win MS World Cup

Spanish language students emerged champions from a hard-fought series of Middle School World Cup games Monday, downing a hard-charging team of students learning Chinese by a tally of 6-1.

But the real winners were students from all the languages offered at the Middle School level at Greenhills. Those students, whose efforts competing in soccer matches using only the languages they’re studying, all worked through a valuable learning experience that doubled as a lot of fun, said Spanish teacher Kevin Olson.

“This is our second year, and this time the kids really grasped the concept of ‘no English’ ”, Olson said. “It was really nice seeing them out there using their target language in an authentic way.”

The tournament—interrupted, as most spring sports have been, by uncooperative weather—was played during lunch periods and stretched over parts of two weeks. The winning team’s name was inscribed on an appropriate trophy: a new Nike soccer ball.

“The students displayed good sportsmanship in all the games,” Olson said. “And they really enjoyed themselves.”