

CLASSICAL TO WORLD LANGUAGES
Foreign Language Festivals
When James Becker was a teacher in Minnesota, he attended a language festival at a large high school in Minneapolis. Soon after arriving at Price Laboratory School, he decided to organize a festival for Iowa students in grades 9-12.
The first foreign language festival in Iowa took place in April 1973. The Laboratory School’s Foreign Language Department which, besides Becker, included Rosa Maria de Findlay and James Price, hosted the one-day event. A $2.00 fee was charged for each participating Iowa student, while teachers, parents, and foreign exchange students were invited to attend for free. The student cost of attending was kept at a minimum, thanks to support from UNI and some local businesses. With the registration fees, Becker purchased various items for what became the popular Festival “general store.” He also contacted many companies which donated materials or allowed him to purchase items at greatly reduced prices.
When the day of the festival arrived after the long months of preparation, Becker was feeling discouraged when no one had shown up shortly before the activities were to start. Then buses filled with students began to arrive from all four corners of the state, allaying all his fears. Approximately 1,200 students, from 50 schools, participated in the first festival.
The purpose of the event was to give students the opportunity both to use and to hear diverse languages, including from native speakers and teachers, in a variety of situations. For their efforts, students received play money in French francs, German marks, Spanish pesos, or Russian rubles. The amount of money students earned varied according to the quality of their language use. Teachers wore badges with flags of the country where the language was spoken so students knew which teachers they should approach to create a conversation. The money earned from the teachers for the quality of the conversation could be used to purchase items in the General Store, such as tee-shirts, cassettes, videos, and food. If students had any remaining money, they could attend one of the auctions at the end of the day and bid on the last of the items in the store. Schools could also bring in food and sell it in the cafeteria where our own cooks had food available for students all day long.
Upon arrival at the main entrance lobby, the students saw a table which was set up to welcome participants and to answer any questions. Maps were everywhere as well as dozens of large travel posters that decorated the walls in all the hallways. Every room at MPLS served a Festival purpose. The lunchroom was used for the Spanish auction; the auditorium for the French. A social studies classroom became the German center. An open conversation room was located in the elementary area. The gym was set up with tents for each language where students could pay to have their fortunes told. A German oompah band played on the front lawn of the school as the students arrived. A “bank” was also set up in the lobby where coins could be exchanged for larger denomination bills.
Each participating school was required to provide some form of entertainment at the Festival, such as singing a song or performing a skit based on the language each individual or group was studying. In return, they were paid for their performances. A dance group from UNI brought down the house.
Students participated in contests, demonstrations, and games. Throughout the day these included lessons in cooking, native dancing, making pinatas, creating origami, and even learning slang terms in the various languages. The Festival even featured a bicycle race, the “Tour de Cedar Falls.” Nice trophies were awarded to the three top places in the race. The son of a Lab School teacher was leading the race; however, he wiped out on the final turn. Not to be deterred from his victory, he picked up his damaged bicycle and carried it across the finish line. His father said that for years he cherished that trophy as much as the MD diploma he earned in later years. A soccer game was also an option for those who wanted to participate. A hot air balloon event had to be canceled the first year at the last minute due to a wind that came up late in the day. Some foreign exchange students dressed in native costumes. Local travel bureaus and businesses that exported products overseas were represented. A cultural center for each language displayed artifacts from that country.
After 1973, the Festival was held again in 1981, 1984, 1986 and 1989, with the last taking place in 1992. Over the years, activities varied, including treasure hunts, quiz bowls, and computer games, but the emphasis on using a non-English language in a variety of settings was always the goal. In 1989 and in 1992, travel scholarships were awarded to Mexico, France, and Germany for those students who wrote winning essays on why they wanted to visit the country of the language they were studying. Jenny Egger, a PLS student, won the French scholarship in 1989 and Tiffani Grimes, also a PLS student, won the French scholarship in 1992.
The Festival was not only an example of outreach to the foreign language students and their teachers in the state of Iowa but also an opportunity for collaboration between the foreign language departments of the Laboratory School and the university. It provided an international setting for students to hear a variety of languages, meet new people, and participate in fun diversions. For teachers, it was a chance to connect with colleagues and share ideas. Becker’s Festival was a very popular event that was always enthusiastically received by all in attendance.
“JEB put on the Statewide Foreign Language Festival which I participated in from junior high Spanish through high school French. And, I was lucky enough to take my own Spanish students to the last one ever held!”
Keeka Chung Baedke, Class of 1982