SDCOE Celebrates World Languages and Global Competence

Late last month, the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) held a World Languages and Global Competence Day event, which featured a mini-conference, world languages instructional materials fair, and an end-of-year celebration for its Two Shores program.

More than 100 people representing 17 languages participated in this first-time event, including government officials from Spain, France, and the Philippines. 

“The vision for this inaugural edition of this special day was to welcome onto the SDCOE campus educators representing all languages and cultures, with special emphasis on less commonly taught languages, to celebrate and learn together, and to showcase the power of being multilingual,” said Dr. Eva Pandos-Solis, world languages coordinator for SDCOE. “We were also excited to host seven breakout sessions for our mini-conference that were presented in partnership with long-time international and local collaborators such as the Spanish Consulate, the Language Acquisition Resource Center at SDSU, the Global Education Project, and CABE. San Diego County local educational agencies, such as San Diego Unified, Poway Unified, Chula Vista, Del Mar Union and Coronado Unified school districts also came together to showcase their 'early start world languages programs.'”

The day started with a celebration and a showcase of SDCOE’s Two Shores program so educators could see how to incorporate ideas from participating schools, or participate in the program in the future. The Two Shores virtual intercultural exchange program partners schools in San Diego County with similar schools in Spain, France, and the Philippines. The purpose of the Two Shores program is to provide participating schools opportunities for authentic and meaningful collaboration to expand horizons, remove barriers, and promote communication, intercultural understanding, and global competence. 

Joining the event were the Education Office of the Spanish Consulate, the Philippine Consulate General, and the Consulate General of France as well as participants via Zoom from all three participating countries. The Council for Teaching Filipino Language and Culture.

For more information about Two Shores, visit their webpage or contact Eva Pando-Solis.