On March 5, sixteen students who excel in their Spanish class, left for the Florida State Spanish Conference, in Orlando, to compete against other high schools from Florida.

The competition involved impromptu speeches, dramatic presentations, entertainment auditions and regional dress judging. 

Everyone had to do an impromptu speech, where they had to speak for two minutes on a random topic chosen by cards. They were judged on different criteria, such as their communication skills, pronunciation, variety of vocabulary and if they used up all two minutes. 

The max score on the speeches was “sobresaliente,” which was achieved by the majority of the group.

Then, the group as a whole had to perform a play for the judges. This year ESJ performed Las aventuras de Juan Bobo.

After rehearsing for weeks, the group finally performed and got the maximum score.

Finally, the students were graded on entertainment auditions and regional dress performance. 

Six of our students decided to recite poems in Spanish, showing how deeply they are impacted throughout the heartfelt stories described in these poems. They did this by wearing appropriate costumes and acting so that the judges would really feel captured in the poem.

Stella Krueger ’28 also made a table centerpiece that demonstrated this year’s competition’s slogan, “un puente entre culturas.”

Also, Emma Collins ’29 earned a trophy for making a photo album for the competition.

Other than these competition pieces, the event also included many fun activities, such as the banquet and the dance. 

All the students attended the banquet, where beautiful regional dresses and entertainment, like songs and dances from different countries in Latin America accompanied the delicious dinner. 

And after dinner, many went and danced all night, having fun before the awards ceremony and departure the next morning.

This year’s group was amazing, placing higher than last time, demonstrating how hard they worked throughout the months leading up to the competition.

Image courtesy of The Rev. Christopher Dell.