Olympic Spirit: Countries, Culture, and Competition en Español
Media Provided by Cate C. ‘27
In Profe. Giurissa Felix’s Spanish V class, students were each assigned a country in Latin America to present on multiple times throughout the year. The Spanish V class has completed three presentations on their assigned country so far this year. For the first presentation, students had to research and analyze the national anthems of their countries. The second presentation was a bit longer and focused on each country’s demographics. The third and most recent presentation was an Olympic bid for each of our countries.
The Olympic Bid presentation required the students to deliver an informative and engaging pitch to the class and a panel of judges. Profe Felix chose who sat on the panel, and it included three guest teachers: Ms. Antonella Domiguez, Ms. Elle Wilson, and Ms. Melissa Smith, who would judge not just the information included in the pitch, but also each student’s delivery of their bid in Spanish.
On presentation day, students showed up in formal dress with a pitch poster in hand, like a real Olympic bid committee member. Students were not allowed to prepare full speeches. Rather, their presentations were extemporaneous and supported only by their visually stunning posters.
The posters included information on the country’s existing infrastructure and plans for additional infrastructure that would be needed to support the games. Each poster displayed an Olympic mascot, some AI, and some hand-drawn art that represented the ideals and beliefs of its country.
Mascots included a goat (Chile), a burro (Nicaragua), and a penguin (Argentina).
Profe Felix has two Spanish V classes, and for each class, the panel of judges awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals. Additionally, they gave out a best mascot award to the student who most effectively designed a mascot that elevated their argument and pitch as a whole.
I spoke briefly with both first-place winners, Lulu H. 27 and Caro C. ‘27, about their experience with the Olympic Bid Presentation.
“I was really nervous leading up to the Olympic bid presentation because it seemed like the entire semester had been building up to it,” Lulu said. “I tried to use the information that I had researched in the months prior to create an engaging pitch and ended up discussing how the large youth population of Honduras would amplify the positives of hosting the Olympics. I was really happy that I ended up winning, but I was most proud of the fact that I was able to work through grammar mistakes and anxieties during my presentation.”
Similarly, Caro appreciated the value of the interactive language project. “It was so much fun to learn about other countries and have everyone dress up,” she said. “I think everyone learnt a lot about researching and also giving an engaging presentation.”
Below are the full results from both classes:
Spanish V (Class 1)
1st: Caro C. ‘27 —> Venezuela
2nd: Sabine T. ‘26 —> Honduras
3rd: Gordie H. ‘27 —> Cuba
Mascot Award: Ishaan S. ‘27 —> Chile
Spanish V (Class 2)
1st: Lulu H. ‘27 —> Honduras
2nd: Anonymous ‘27 —> Venezuela
3rd: Anonymous ‘27—> Argentina
Mascot Awards: Caitlin L. ‘27 —> El Salvador, Magnus B. ‘27 —> Nicaragua Anonymous ‘27 —> Venezuela
Catherine C. ‘27, the author, is a staff member of The Grace Gazette.