With fierce competition on the soccer field and flavorful themed meals in the cafeteria, World Languages Week made a return to the Upper School (US) for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrating the cultures of the six languages taught at the US. Organizing the week’s activities, US World Languages Department Head James Sennette aimed to showcase the US languages — Spanish, French, Latin, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese — and their diverse ways of life, he said.

 “World Languages Week shows that we all belong, and we’re all part of the BB&N community of language learners and at the same time learning about cultures that exist outside of BB&N.”

 Prior to the pandemic, World Languages Week was an annual event at the US, and the department currently plans to continue the tradition. This year’s World Languages Week had three components: a US assembly, a soccer tournament and daily themed meals.

 A Monday, March 3 assembly kicked off the week with a video of US alumni and teachers reflecting on their journeys learning new languages. The department later held a soccer tournament on Thursday with specific countries representing each language taught at the US. Seven teams — Spain, France, Morocco, Switzerland, Argentina, Colombia/Ecuador, and China — participated in the tournament this year, but US French Teacher Ben Sprayregen, who organized the soccer tournament, plans to have 12 countries compete next year.

 The finals were held during CAB on Friday, where US Spanish Teacher Rosario Sánchez Gómez’s Spanish team took home the trophy. A player on the winning team, Matteo Sestito ’27, described the soccer tournament as intense, especially during the final moments of the game.

 “The penalty kicks were so fun; it was like a movie,” he said. “The other team was the underdog, but they kept a close score, so much so that we had to go into penalty kicks.”

 There were four rounds of penalty kicks before Jaime Vega Espinosa ’26 scored the winning goal. Matteo reflected on World Language Week’s motto, “we all belong,” he said.

 “Jaime scored the winning goal, and all teachers and students went crazy. It was really fun seeing all the support and excitement from our peers, especially from World Languages Week and building our community.”

 Mr. Sprayregen said the games were the highlight of World Languages Week.

 “The soccer tournament is my favorite,” he said. “It is fun and gets very competitive, and people take it seriously. When we first started the soccer tournament back in 2017, I thought it was going to simply be a light-hearted and laid-back event, but this year, people have taen it very seriously, which is always nice to see because it makes it more engaging.”

 US Spanish Teacher Gabriela Gonzenbach praised the unity and engagement the week fostered, especially through the soccer tournament. Students originally placed on her Ecuador team voluntarily joined US Arabic Teacher Amani Abu Shakra’s Moroccan team after realizing that Ms. Abu Shakra didn’t have enough players, Profe Gonzenbach said.

 “The week represented unity and belonging. There were students of mine who played for Ms. Abu Shakra because they didn’t have enough students. That shows value since they played for Morocco because of the community.”

 The soccer tournament was not the only event featured during World Language Week: The themed meals helped expand students’ palettes. Director of Dining Services Jim Fuller said the themed meals he prepared enabled students to explore the cuisines of different cultures. The beef stroganoff and jambalaya were the most popular dishes.

 “I believe the food broadened horizons, and it brought different cultures to the spotlight that maybe were not in students’ palettes,” he said. “It was a great experience. I thought it was a great collaboration with the World Languages Department, and I look forward to doing it again next year.”

 For Ben Kaplan ’26, who played for the winning Spanish soccer team, World Languages Week achieved its goal, he said.

 “I think World Languages Week’s slogan, ‘we all belong,’ was important because all the languages that we teach at BB&N were recognized and their corresponding countries. No one was ignored, and everyone was equal.”