Following the arrival of the Carmel High School AP Spanish class at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula on Oct. 27, the students were immediately immersed by the Spanish-speaking hospital staff for the remainder of their instructional field trip.
The AP Spanish class has been enriching its vocabulary through community involvement for many years with the help of teacher Olga Chandler and the Spanish-speaking employees at CHOMP as students tour the facility.
Students began by learning the vocabulary associated with the Advanced Placement test specifically related to the science and technology unit. Chandler explained that prior to the recent AP test changes, she would take the students on different field trips.
“Now our field trips are vocabulary-based so they relate to the vocabulary we are using now in class,” Chandler said.
Following their arrival at CHOMP, the students were guided around the patient rehabilitation unit by Spanish speaking employee Mario Ruiz, the director of the inpatient rehabilitation unit.
As the students toured the hospital they were required to take notes, specifically on vocabulary-related topics, in preparation for a future essay assignment. The essay topic involves comparing a hospital or health care program in a Spanish speaking country to its U.S. equivalent.
The students then toured the different hospital wings, reviewing what happens in each wing, and meeting employees who work there. The employees covered what their typical day includes as well as the process each patient goes through.
Junior Joaquin Buenrostro enjoyed learning specifically about the employees
“On this trip I learned that there are specialists in each wing of the hospital who specialize in certain fields of medicine,” Buenrostro said.
As the trip progressed, students learned about technology used in a hospital, specifically machines for patients in radiology. As the conversation continued with hospital employees, students listened attentively and contributed enthusiastically.
Sophomore Valentina Anea explained that she learned the importance of Spanish at CHOMP and the benefits of speaking multiple languages in the medical field such as being able to communicate with local patients.
Many students in the class took the most pleasure out of seeing a newborn baby in the nursery at the end of the field trip.
The AP Spanish class will be going on other field trips throughout the year relating to other themes of the course which are designed to give them valuable practice with Spanish fluency and dialect differences.
-Grace Davis
