Saline High School Juniors Helped Grow the Small Spanish Club Community

Saline High School juniors Julianna Marini and Ethan Horneberger, leaders of the Spanish Club, spoke to the Saline Board of Education about their club and about helping facilitate a conference for 225 world language teachers.

The Spanish Club, guided by Spanish teacher Beth Gregones, recently facilitated the conference at Saline High School. The teachers came from 12 states and taught eight languages. The conference was supported by the SWWC's culinary program, which provided snacks and meals for the program.

The Spanish Club students helped set up the conference and keep things rolling smoothly. They also spoke to the teachers about their club - and much of that presentation was  given to the Board of Education.

Horneberger said he and Marini used outreach to grow the club from 10-15 members to around 500 this year. 

"About 30 of those are active, but it's still a very large club compared to some others," Horneberger said.

In fact, when the French club folded, Horneberger and Marini stepped up to strengthen the Spanish club and keep it alive.

Marini said the club used an Instagram page and creative artwork to market the club around the school.

The club meets every Thursday. One popular feature of the club are the periodic parties or fiestas.

"We have catering and pinatas to make sure people enjoy going to Spanish Club and stay active," Horneberger said.

The group created a poster for Afro-Latinos.

"Each person colored a different portion off the page. We put it all together and were able to put this in the hallway for Black History Month," Marini said.

Horneberger and Marini have helped preserve and breathe new life into a community within Saline High School.

"It's a similar group fo people who keep coming back. It provides a nice break at the end of a day. People can look forward to it because they know it's every single Thursday and we like to have fun," Horneberger said.

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