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The Center for Applied Second Language Studies is pleased to have been on hand on Monday, March 3 at the Vanderbilt Center for Latin American Studies (VCLAS) to judge poster presentations by students from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Hillsboro High School. These projects are the result of a teacher externship and training regarding the Latin American Public Opinion Project that took place at VCLAS over the summer. CASLS was participated in that training by providing support to educators for using digital games to foment cross curricular connections.

The poster presentations were a great success. Students presented on a range of social justice issues in Latin America including police brutality, gender inequality, domestic violence, and the impact of drug trade. The students reported that they were pleasantly surprised about how comfortable they were in talking about their research. They also indicated a great amount of growth and learning, reflecting on the interconnectivity of the many issues they studied and the contemporary relevance of those issues in the United States.

Shelly Wilkinson, mathematics teacher at Hillsboro, summed up the experience by reflecting on the interconnectivity of subject areas. She commented, “I enjoyed being able to incorporate data and math in a meaningful way to address important issues related to humanities, world language, and social justice.” CASLS extends its thanks and admiration to VCLAS and Hillsboro for the wonderful work!

Shelly Wilkinson, mathematics teacher, and Emarie Elliott, Spanish teacher, prepare student projects at VCLAS.