Language Class Insights

Plan! Principal John Erickson standing in front of both semester schedules of classes. Photo courtesy of Finnegan Bolz, Reporter.

As many students know, Vashon Island High School has only one language course: Spanish. Many people express their wishes about having other languages and classes for VHS.

“I totally wish there was at least something like French or German or something else that was taught" Michelle Samson, student.

For the school district, it's harder than many think to find teachers for different classes. The school has many other classes, departments, and curriculums to fill. Believe it or not, much of the decisions to focus on certain subjects more than others, is less in the hands of the district, and more in the hands of students themselves.

When it comes to finding a teacher for any department, the school needs to go through a lengthy process to make sure that the teacher they want to hire is qualified, background checked, and a good fit for the job. For the Vashon Island School District, there is an extra layer of complexion for the teachers. This is because the district is on an island, and many teachers have difficulty working around the ferries. Even for those who live on the island it is difficult to be a teacher here.

“It can be a challenge to get here for off island residents. As well as for Island residents, it's a challenge to spend all weekend or all day going to a medical appointment off Island or going off island to buy more affordable groceries elsewhere. So it's a big deal to commute off of the island, just as it's a big deal to commute onto the island,” stated John Erickson, the Principal of VHS.

For the former language department (now changed to just the Spanish department), there have been a lot of problems because of the lack of teachers to teach the classes, especially in the former language department. When past language teachers left the school, it was difficult to find qualified educators to fill the positions.

“There's been a significant amount of churn in our world language or Spanish department in the last couple of years. The dynamic is nuanced because it relates to individual stories of teachers who were with us for a short time, and it relates to the current enrollment and funding landscape in our school system,” elaborated Erickson, Principal.

It is extra difficult to find teachers that are qualified enough to teach world language classes. Teaching a world language class is not like teaching English, science, social studies, or math.

“One thing I do know that is different, though, is we'll have to answer questions in the target language, in our second language, to prove that we are competent speaking a second language,” said Ms. McLean, the new Spanish 1 teacher.

When the school looks into what classes they want to add or remove, they look into what classes students have shown interest in. Besides Washington State’s required courses, every class is driven by student interest.

“The other driver, especially at Vashon Island High School, is student interest. If there are lots of students who want to take a particular elective, then it's easier, from a scheduling standpoint, to make that elective a reality. Students, to some degree, have the ability in electives to vote with their feet. So we have, in that way, a student driven elective schedule. If there are no students who want to take a particular elective, it's difficult to make that elective strong, robust, and interesting,” said Erickson,.

Many ways students can advocate for the classes they want are doing things like talking to ASB, talking to their school counselor, or petitioning with other students to show that there is interest in a class or course.

So, even if there is difficulty in finding teachers for classes, the student body has a lot of power in deciding what courses the school focuses on adding.