Next week, Huntley High School will be joining schools around the nation to celebrate National Foreign Language Week 2012. The event, which has been celebrated annually since 1957, will take place from March 5 to March 11.

The official theme will be “You’re Connected… Now Communicate!” Though only Spanish, French and Chinese are taught at HHS, National Foreign Language Week focuses on all foreign countries and languages.

“It’s a great way to get a look at all world cultures,” said Spanish teacher Amanda Wills.

Wills, along with other teachers around the school, will be hiding flags throughout the hallways and in classrooms for students to find. If students locate the flags and identify what country they belong to, they can bring them to teachers Jack Towne or Laura Devlin in exchange for a prize.

Foreign language classrooms will also be having “Where’s Waldo” trivia throughout the week, where students must guess which country Waldo is hiding in based on clues provided about that country.

There will also be a T-shirt designing contest that ties into the week’s theme happening on Friday, and some teachers are offering extra credit for those who participate.

Many teachers in the foreign language department are excited about the week, and have decorated their hallway with flags and posters of various countries all around the world.

“Huntley has been participating in National Foreign Language Week for three years now, and it’s an exciting way to promote foreign languages and cultures,” said Spanish teacher Julie Swartzloff, who is helping to organize the events occurring during the special week.

Wills and fellow Spanish teacher Tamrah English also set up a display case in the main hallway, which features a poster designed by Spanish teacher Laura Shallcross that relates to the week’s theme.

French teacher Leslie Parrin will also be joining the festivities by playing foreign music from her stereo during passing periods.

Overall, National Foreign Language Week offers students around HHS an interesting way to appreciate other cultures around the world.