World Languages

WORLD LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT


The Western World Languages Department offers Spanish and French, levels 1 through 5.  Levels 3 (Language & Culture) & 4 (Special Topics) are Honors courses, and level 5 is the college-level Advanced Placement course.  

In the USA, our largest minority is Hispanics, so therefore we have high enrollment in Spanish classes.  Western has four Spanish teachers and one French teacher, who teaches six classes of all five levels.  

BCPS is increasing rigor, and our county has a new, very rigorous curriculum that has been introduced.  Students should be very diligent as they learn these foreign languages; students are expected to study for at least a half hour every night and to complete all their homework, class work, activities, and projects at their best ability.  

Profesor Ruth, Profesora Casas, Profesora Confair, Profesora Owens, Monsieur Olive
Profesor Ruth, Profesora Casas, Profesora Confair, Profesora Owens, & Monsieur Olive

The foreign language teachers have worked very hard to obtain multiple certifications.  
Teaching French 1-5, Monsieur Olive is certified in French.  His master’s degree is in Secondary Education.
A native speaker of Spanish from Uruguay, Profesora Casas teaches Spanish 1-2.
Our Spanish 2-3 teacher, Profesora Owens is certified in Spanish, French, and ESL.  She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching.  
Profesora Confair teaches Spanish 3-4, bringing the richness of her annual travels all over the world back to the classroom.
Here since 1993 and currently teaching Spanish 4-5, Profesor Ruth is certified in Spanish, and also has a master’s in ESL, and has taught eight different courses in English as a Second Language at Frederick Community College.

About a dozen of Profesor Ruth’s and Monsieur Olive’s students are diligently preparing for the AP Tests in May.  Over the past few years, quite a number of students have achieved 4's & 5's on the AP tests.