Red Bank Student One of Pair to Take Win for Sweet Spanish Podcast

Two of Rumson Country Day School's (RCDS) honors Spanish class eighth graders have created an award-winning podcast commercial that some may say puts the fun in Fizz and fluency.

And one is from Red Bank.

The award, bestowed by the Foreign Language Educators of New Jersey (FLENJ), was won by Georgia Greene, of Rumson, and Melissa Marchese, of Red Bank for best in the category of Middle School Podcast for Language Fluency. It was accepted on the girls' behalf by Spanish teacher Jessica Reyes at a March 16 conference.

While the girls won for the eighth grade level, the statewide contest features categories for elementary and high school students enrolled in any world language class and may feature any language except English for a maximum one-minute video, according to a release.

In Greene and Marchese's video, for instance, they spoke entirely in Spanish and created a commercial for a soda called Fizz. In what was dubbed a "comical twist, Georgia complains to Melissa that she is parched. Melissa suggests she try some Fizz soda, and the fun begins," the release said.

In the video, as Georgia sips the Fizz, she, in a dry tone, all in Spanish, asks Melissa what's in the soda. Melissa replies, with a hint of sarcasm that 'there is sugar and artificial flavoring.' The girls make fun of the lack of nutrition in a popular drink and engage in some comic banter. (Click here or above to see the video.)

Calling the girls' demonstration of fluency top notch in their expressive interpretation of their second language, head of RCDS Upper School, Bill Lamb, said that "podcasts are an excellent tool for kids to express themselves in ways that are authentic for them.

"Using iPads to create podcasts as part of our instruction was wonderful, and giving them the chance to do that in a target language where we spend 90 percent of our time was terrific."

FLENJ is a non-profit, foreign language organization that represents world language educators at all levels in New Jersey.

For more information on the podcast contest or FLENJ, visit the organization's website at www.podcast.flenj.org.