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In their bilingual world

Northeast Elementary students show off their Spanish-language skills with a fashion show.

HUDSON - Need a bathroom break or perhaps a drink from the water fountain?

If you're in Kimetta Ortiz's class, you better be able to ask in Spanish.

"We can't go anywhere unless we say it in Spanish," 11-year-old Lydia Haugh said before launching into the Pledge of Allegiance in Espanol with the help of classmates Kayla Burkett, 10, and Jena Clifton, 9.

So it's no wonder the fourth- and fifth-graders in Ortiz's Integrated Spanish class have been working hard to learn the language. They were more than happy to prove it last week by strutting their stuff and narrating in Spanish during a special fashion show held for parents and faculty members at Northwest Elementary School. Taylor Dinkel was in her element behind the narrator's lecternand on the runway. The 10-year-old didn't stumble at all, Spanish flowing freely as she described a classmate's outfit. A few moments later, there she was, twirling, swirling, smiling, tilting her head just so and making the sweeping arm gestures of a professional runway model as a La Vida Mickey CD played in the background.

Her classmate, Anthony Ongaro - dressed in jeans, a gray T-shirt and white, black and green sneakers - was feeling more than a little uncomfortable about the whole ordeal. Well, at least half of it.

"My legs were shaking. I thought it was crazy. Except for the Spanish part - I liked doing that," said Anthony, 11, adding that he would rather be a professional football player than a runway model when he grows up.

Despite Anthony's discomfort, the fashion show was a worthy lesson for students who, in the past few weeks, have been learning the words for various articles of clothing, e.g., los pantalones for "the pants" and el chaleco for "the vest."

"It's an opportunity for our children to showcase what they've been learning in their classroom so it can spill out of these walls and into the community," Ortiz said.

Most of the students in Ortiz's class have spent a couple of years in the Integrated Spanish program, now in its 10th year at Northwest. There are two students in the program who speak Spanish as their first language. All are now accustomed to hearing instructions and giving answers in both English and Spanish.

"In our class, we learn English and Spanish," said Ortiz, who grew up on a military base in Madrid because her parents were in the Air Force. "I introduce the concepts in English and reinforce them in Spanish. Our goal is to give our students the opportunity to learn a foreign language in elementary years - try to expose them to language and culture so as adults they will be more aware of different cultures.

"We strive to help them be bilingual so they can compete in their adult years in the work force."

The younger the age at which students learn a foreign language, the better, Ortiz said. She said she'll soon start an afterschool Spanish program for students enrolled in the school's PLACE, or Pasco Learning and Activity Centers of Enrichment, program.

"The kids are very excited. They are enthused," Ortiz said. "They like to do something that's different, and they like that they know things that some adults don't. And they want to continue, they want to continue in middle and high school."

Some of her students even speak Spanish around the house, something their teacher encourages them to do often.

"It's phenomenal. The teacher makes it so much fun," said Patricia Haugh, after congratulating her daughter, Lydia, on her performance. "She uses her Spanish at home. She's taught me Spanish. I know all the colors, all the numbers. I'm hoping she'll teach her little brother."