First students to graduate Trejo Dual Language Academy walk stage as speakers of Spanish, English

Gusting winds may have forced a couple of pauses in the first eighth-grade graduation ceremony at the Ruben Trejo Dual Language Academy Friday, but it could not dampen the excitement of the 19 graduates and their families.

The Spanish language immersion school is operated by Spokane Public Schools in a former elementary school in the Edgecliff Neighborhood. The school started nine years ago with only kindergartners and then added a new grade level every year as the original group of students grew up.

The school is named after artist Ruben Trejo, who was a professor at Eastern Washington University for more than 30 years before his death. Two of his pieces are on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Beritt Gwinn was one of the students who donned a black cap and gown for Friday’s ceremony. She and 17 of her classmates have attended the school since kindergarten. Beritt said she has loved foreign languages since an early age and, knowing this, her parents asked if she’d like to give the new school a try. Beritt had already been through a year of kindergarten, but the idea of a Spanish language immersion school excited her so much that she was willing to repeat the year.

There were 40 kindergarteners that first year, Beritt said, but more than half of them eventually stopped attending. What’s left is a close -knit group of students. “It’s kind of special that I know everyone so well,” she said. “I like the small community we have here.”

Beritt is one of 11 students in her class named as qualifying for the Washington State Seal of Biliteracy, which is awarded to high school graduates who have demonstrated fluency in speaking, reading and writing in a language other than English.

“I’d say I’m pretty fluent,” Beritt said. “I still think I could improve a little bit.”

Principal Mauricio Segovia said the school now includes 286 students in grades K-8. Segovia said most students begin kindergarten knowing little to no Spanish. He said it’s best to enroll in a language immersion school at a young age.

“It’s much easier to form a student and their bilingual brain in kindergarten,” he said. “Their ability to absorb knowledge is way easier. That’s why we call them ‘little sponges.’ ”

Spokane Public School Superintendent Adam Swinyard said the district created the language immersion school because parents requested it. “It’s been a part of an ongoing effort to be connected to our community,” he said.

During the ceremony, Segovia spoke about his first week at the school, when most students acted so shy he was “trying to pull words out of your mouth” so he could assess their language skills.

“I met you when you were in the sixth grade, and most of you were high energy,” he said. “It’s been an amazing pleasure to be with you daily and be your principal. We have so much to celebrate today.”

School board member Nikki Lockwood also spoke. “When I was your age, in the 1900s, there was no dual language academy,” she said. “You are learning that bilingual and bicultural are strengths. We are proud of you, we believe in you and we can’t wait to see what you do next.”

The graduating class chose one of their own, ASB class president Emery Winkle, to speak during the ceremony. Emery spoke about being so afraid of public speaking that one teacher had Emery give her presentations facing away from the class. “I felt like an idiot, but it worked,” she said at the start of her speech.

Emery switched seamlessly from English to Spanish and back again during her speech. She confessed that it was “exciting and a bit terrifying” to be moving on to a much larger high school and thanked the teachers for guiding the students forward.

“There were days I thought we weren’t going to make it, so thank you for proving us wrong,” she said.

The students also chose teacher and eighth-grade adviser Nicole Oliver to speak. Oliver told the students how proud she was of them. “Even though you fight like siblings sometimes, you’ve shown time and time again how much you care for each other,” she said. “I hope you never forget how you belong here.”

Teacher Perla Espinal left the students with some heartfelt words of farewell. “You will always hold a special place in Trejo’s history,” she said. “We are incredibly proud of you and look forward to all you will accomplish.”