Bringing language to Whitefish

A month ago Catherine Owens and Jean Amidon got to talking about Whitefish and its variety of cultural opportunities. Both agreed that one thing is missing.

“This community offers so much, but not language,” Amidon said.

“Children can learn to sing, make art, act, dance, play a music instrument, and just about any sport,” Owens added. “But there’s no place for them to learn a foreign language at an early age.”

The women, both mothers, decided they would take it upon themselves to do something about the problem. They have founded the Glacier Academy of Languages, a school designed for children and adults to learn foreign languages in a variety of ways.

Amidon said her children previously attended a full-immersion Spanish school in Seattle.

“I was amazed at how quickly they picked up the language,” she said. “Our hope is that parents and children alike will learn. This is really important as people need language skills for business and travel.”

Owens and Amidon serve as directors for the school. Although both speak foreign languages, they have been bringing highly qualified teachers on board to instruct the classes.

The school is set to open with classes in February and a sneak preview information session is set for Thursday, Nov. 29 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Whitefish Foursquare Church. Classes will be taught at the church and at Whitefish Christian Academy.

The school has a tentative class schedule for Spanish, French and Italian with plans to add more languages. Patti Faustini, who teaches at Muldown Elementary, and a few teachers from Flathead Valley Community College have already signed on to lead classes.

Classes are designed by grade level for young students and skill level for adults.

There’s informal classes planned for those who already speak a language, but are looking to maintain their fluency. They also plan to hold travel language classes that would teach the basics needed for those taking a trip to a foreign county.

Owens and Amidon are still working to organize a “mommy and me” style class that would teach young children and parents together.

“Moms can’t reinforce a language unless they know it too,” Owens said. “This way they can learn it together. We want to make the class engaging so both mom and child can learn together.”

As they expand the center, they will look at holding full-immersion summer camps where students spend long periods of time reading, hearing and speaking a language. They also want to offer individual tutoring. At some point they’d like to hold multi-cultural events as well.

“We want to follow the needs of the community,” Amidon said.

So far they feel they’ve received positive feedback from posters they’ve put up around town.

“We’re realizing from the responses that there’s a need,” Owens said. “There’s so many languages that people want.”

For more information on the Glacier Academy of Languages call 212-2273 or visit www.glacieracademyoflanguages.com.