In Valerie Green’s Spanish 2 and 3 classes, music is filling the air. This year, FHN’s new Spanish teacher Valerie Green has brought with her a new annual tradition. She calls it  ‘Locura de Marzo’, which translates into ‘March Madness’. This is her eighth year hosting such an event, though only her first time hosting it at North. In essence, it functions very similarly to the event that it is named after- except with music instead of basketball teams. Green has set up a bracket of multiple Spanish songs from a variety of Spanish artists, such as ‘Loca’ by Avaro Soler and ‘La Gozadera’ by Gente de Zona and Marc Anthony. Green says she tried to pick catchy, appropriate songs that she thinks will appeal to her students. “I knew a lot of kids were interested in March Madness, and I thought this was a good way to get them into Spanish,” Green said. “I had seen other teachers that had done something like it, so I went out and created my own.”

There are  sixteen songs in total. Starting on March 10, students in both of Green’s Spanish  classes will vote on two select songs that go head to head. The song that receives the most votes will move on to the next round while the other is eliminated. The classes will vote on four new songs every week. The two victors will move on to the next week while the losers are eliminated. Students who successfully predict the the winner will receive a small amount of in-class extra credit.

Many of the students are excited for the opportunity to listen and have already chose their favorite songs. “ ‘Loca’ by Alvero Soler is my favorite,” says Spanish 3 student Connor Ray. “It’s really catchy and easy to understand, I really hope it wins.” Ray says that this has event has opened him up and allowed him to take a look at the Spanish culture as a whole. “I feel like it’s really important to experience other people’s cultures, especially the Spanish culture, because it’s an important thing just to understand it. There are native Spanish speakers at our school, and this is what they grow up listening to, and I think it’s cool that we can kind of live that part of their lives.”

“I definitely think this exposes them to the culture,” Green says. “Eventually, kids start to eventually get into the music, and sometimes I’ll have kids come up to me and say that they’ve created their own Spanish playlists. They start to get connected to Spanish artists.”