BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI

North Country This Week

MASSENA -- Massena Central School District Board of Education members continue to debate the merits of alternative language courses for elementary students.

Two board members, Patricia Murphy and Susan Lambert both spoke in favor of such courses and immersion programs to begin alternative language education for elementary students.

Both members say numerous studies have shown that young children who begin learning other languages in elementary school grasp languages much faster.

“Maybe they could do something in the UPK (universal pre-kindergarten), like an immersion. Little kids pick that stuff up really quickly,” Murphy said.

Murphy also mentioned that she remembers songs from kindergarten that were taught in Spanish.

"It’s just easier to do it when they’re younger. I think it’s something worth exploring," she said.

Lambert, who has lived internationally before, said introducing children to another language at a younger age is the best approach.

"Living for almost seven years in Europe and Asia, I am telling you how stupid I felt because you speak one language. These people standing next to you, some of them older people that didn’t even get through our equivalent of elementary school, who could speak at least two languages," Lambert said.

District officials have researched the possibility of language education for elementary students before, including earlier this year.

One district goal set last year included researching the feasibility of beginning integrated cultural experiences at the elementary level, including "exposure to foreign languages."

Board Member Robert LeBlanc requested the report, which was completed in February.

According to the report presented to the board in February, only one school district locally offers a similar program that board members hope to incorporate at Massena.

Former Superintendent Pat Brady said in February that a similar program in Lake Placid provided some French and Spanish programming, the closest the district could find that involved a teacher actually teaching the languages to young children.

Brady also said research suggested there would be benefits in providing language software with games and activities to expose children to the languages.

At the most recent board meeting, Board President Paul Haggett said those sorts of resources may be something that Massena could draw upon, "whether they be a presentation or teacher visits to the Lake Placid system."

Though it appears board members are in support of the new measure, Superintendent Ron Burke said implementing the programs may prove difficult due to a foreign language teacher shortage.

Burke said one issue is identifying the number of teachers needed to teach both languages, suggesting it may be important to assess what other districts are doing to meet the need.

"I think we need to take a look at what some other schools are doing as far as providing at the elementary level," he said.

Burke said it is important for Massena to see what the model would be, allowing the board to agin present those findings for public consideration.