Alamo Heights High students serve as Spanish teaching assistants at Woodridge Elementary

High school students in Alamo Heights Independent School District's Spanish 6 class are serving as teaching assistants at Woodridge Elementary, providing small-group and one-on-one Spanish-language support, Rebecca Marshburn, world language coordinator at Alamo Heights High School, said.

The course is a service-learning class that pairs older students with younger learners in the district's immersion and dual-language program. "Right? Yes. It is. So Spanish 6 is a service learning, class that gives the students the opportunity to immerse them self in, language learning, which actually has a direct impact in our community," Marshburn said. She said the goal is for the high school students to become teaching assistants in the elementary language program and to assist classroom teachers during small-group or one-on-one sessions.

Marshburn told the interviewer most of the high school participants have been enrolled in the district's immersion or dual-language pathway "since first grade," giving them continuity in language study and experience working with younger students. A student who participates in the program described enjoying the experience: "I just, like, love seeing them, like, overcome, like, difficulties and stuff and being able to, like, help them. I can just see how much they all love each other because they're all so playful."

Program leaders said the high school assistants can relate to the elementary students' experiences learning a second language and offer peer-level support alongside licensed teachers. The district did not specify class enrollment counts, funding sources, or whether the model is used at other elementary sites during this segment.

Woodridge Elementary and Alamo Heights High School are both part of the Alamo Heights Independent School District.