There are bright posters on the wall and children bouncing out of their seats, and at first glance it looks like any other classroom.
But in this L.A. classroom, the students are required to speak only in Spanish.
Ten students, as well as their teacher, Brenda Walsh, a fourth-year Spanish and comparative literature student, are participants in a joint program sponsored by ¡Listos!, which is a part of the UCLA in L.A community initiatives and the Foundation for Second Chances.
The after-school program, founded two years ago by Melissa Wyatt, the founder and president of the Foundation for Second Chances, includes one-on-one mentoring and homework help, as well as Spanish language instruction.
She said the program, which is running three days a week, is aimed at helping students perform in school, connect with their community, and build useful job skills for the future.
From the time school gets out until 4 p.m., the students in the program meet with mentors and work on their homework. Then at 4 p.m., half of the students in the program meet with Walsh for Spanish classes.
One afternoon last week, the students, ages 6 to 11, were almost too hyper to stay in their seats.
Students seemed distracted and energetic: One boy was hanging from his desk and another two were fighting and wrestling.
But 9-year-old Rickhiya Gibson, a third-grader at the elementary school, was eager to learn and told the other students to stop being so loud.
The students were involved in a game, which is one of the ways Walsh teaches them to speak Spanish. In the game, students took turns drawing shapes, animals and body parts on the board. The remainder of the class, divided into groups, were asked to identify and name the object in Spanish.
When one group thought they could identify what was drawn, they all raised their hands, screaming and yelling to be called on.
Wyatt said she sees the Spanish program as an opportunity to help students communicate with their peers in the community.
In recent years, what was mostly a black neighborhood surrounding the school has grown to include a large Latino population, and providing students a place to learn Spanish will help them relate to their counterparts, she said.
“(Knowing Spanish) is a life builder, something they need for when they grow up, and they love it,” Wyatt said.
During classtime, the students sing Spanish songs, make crafts, such as masks for Mardi Gras, and focus on building their vocabulary.
Walsh’s approach to teaching is straightforward, if at times difficult, as there is no English allowed in her classroom.
“It’s hard but worth it,” she said.
Wyatt said she believes the program is working, as she has noticed students are picking up the language quickly. Some of the students joined the program as late as January and are already able to hold elementary conversations in Spanish with their classmates.
The Spanish class, which began in September, is a new part of the existing after-school program Wyatt helped create at 42nd Street Elementary School two years ago.
Wyatt said she created Foundation for Second Chances when she realized the students at the school were scoring about 215 points below the California average on standardized tests.
Since starting the program, Wyatt has noticed that students have increased their ability to focus, a skill she sees as integral to performing well on tests.
“We utilize hands-on education and mentoring to maximize their potential,” she said.
It also helps, she said, that the students are having fun.
Rickhiya said she has been attending the program since September and uses what she learns in class to communicate with others.
She said she is excited to come to class and teaches the Spanish she learns to her grandmother, who does not speak Spanish and so is unable to communicate with many of the Spanish speakers in her own family.
Rickhiya also sees ways of using what she learns in class outside of the classroom.
“If you meet a Spanish person, it won’t be hard to make friends,” she said.
Seven-year-old Leslie James, a second-grade student at the school, said she enjoys learning new words in class and speaking Spanish at school makes her feel special.
“I say “˜hi’ to my friends in Spanish so they can learn Spanish too,” she said.
But Walsh and Wyatt say these classes are more than just about the Spanish.
Walsh said working with the children has changed her outlook on teaching. She said she puts in hours of outside preparation to make sure the students are having fun and are excited to be there and believes her committed presence in the students’ lives makes a big difference.
“They have to deal with their own issues and the challenge is that I’m only here three times a week. I can’t do anything about the time that I’m not here,” she said.
Wyatt said she believes the personal attention the students receive as part of the program makes a difference in the way the children interact with their surroundings.
“All they want is for someone to pay attention, tell them they’re doing well, and right their wrongs,” she said.