Article written by Ainsley Hall and printed in The Journal on May 18, 2026.
MARTINSBURG — Students from Martinsburg High School visited Rosemont Elementary on Monday, May 18, as a part of the Spanish Traveling Show where high schoolers taught the younger children how to speak Spanish. Led by Spanish teacher and World Language Department Chair Elizabeth Sanchez, students got to learn what it’s like to lead their own classroom and work with kids.
The program started three years ago when Sanchez first started teaching at Martinsburg High School. She always wanted to start a Spanish Honors Society, and one of the requirements is to complete a certain number of community service hours. Sanchez realized a great way to do this would be to visit some of the feeder schools and teach Spanish lessons to the kids. This year they visited Berkeley Heights Elementary, Winchester Avenue Elementary and now Rosemont Elementary.
Jocelyn Winston, Joshua Menocal and Lochlynn Campbell all worked together to lead their classrooms, first visiting kindergarten and then second grade. The lesson focused on Spanish words talking about weather. They taught kids that frio means cold, calor means hot, fresco means cool, viento means windy and hace sol means it’s sunny. Then they did a special activity where they asked the students what they should wear when it's snowing and raining outside and asked them to draw it.
Winston and Menocal said that the best part about the Spanish Traveling Show was being able to talk with the kids and see them have fun. They believe teaching kids Spanish at a young age is important because it shows bilingual students they aren’t alone.
“I know how it feels,” Menocal said. “I was born in Miami, but when I moved here all I knew was Spanish. It was difficult learning how to speak English at first. I want kids to see how helpful speaking a second language can be.”
“I think it’s also important to learn diversity at a young age,” Winston added. “As they grow up, it makes it easier to accept people who may look and act different from you.”
Sanchez believes that in a perfect world, every young student would have some kind of exposure to world languages. It helps expand their outlook on life, giving them another lens to view the world around them. Learning another language also means learning about another culture which leads to more sympathy and understanding for others. Now that many universities, including West Virginia University, are eliminating their World Languages programs, Sanchez believes its even more important for people to understand how important it is to learn to speak other languages.
“No translator can mimic the same outcomes you would get talking person-to-person,” Sanchez said. “It creates totally different conversations. The more people you talk to the more you can learn.”
Sanchez hopes this experience will inspire some of her students to consider teaching Spanish. She said there is a need for more World Languages teachers throughout the schools. Teaching also helped the teenagers learn patience, flexibility and self-confidence as they continue learning the Spanish.