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Pine Crest Upper School Spanish Language Students Participate in HACIA Democracy 2021
March 15th 2021
Pine Crest Upper School Spanish language students participated virtually in HACIA Democracy’s 26th Annual Model Summit of the Americas from March 11 to 14, 2021. This is the first time Pine Crest has participated in HACIA, a Model UN type event where students work fully in another language.
Fifteen (15) ninth grade students from Pine Crest’s Spanish 4H for heritage speakers class will work in Spanish with their peers from 11 Latin American countries to understand the main issues affecting the region and imagine solutions.
HACIA Democracy simulates the parliamentary procedures of the Organization of American States (OAS). Pine Crest’s delegation represents one of four North American high schools participating in the event and will be working in four committees: General Assembly, Summit of the Americas, Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and the Press Corps. Students will address the following issues:
Economic transition of Latin America to alternative energy sources
Freedom of the press
Preparing Latin America for the 4th Industrial Revolution
China's influence in the region
Challenges to stop the spread of HIV in the region
“This was a great opportunity for our students to interact in Spanish in a meaningful real-life situation for an extended period of time,” said Señora Patty Gómez, Spanish Instructor. “They collaborated with students from 22 other schools. The conference offered six committees that worked exclusively in English and five committees did all their work exclusively in Spanish.”
HACIA Democracy is hosted by Harvard University and is the oldest and largest simulation of the OAS in the world. Hundreds of students come from countries spanning the entire Americas, from Mexico to Paraguay to discuss issues of relevance to Latin America and the world.
