More than 700 high school students explore the impact of languages at festival

March 25, 2025 (Volume 48, Number 14)
Article by Thomas Chavez

Film and video major Kobe Wright, right, helps undeclared major Emily Grob write in Japanese as part of the Global Language and Culture Festival at the Kirkhof Center on March 20.

Psychology major Abigail Van Norwick works at the Language Resource Center booth during the Global Language and Culture Festival; small global flags are on the table to the left

Film and video major Kobe Wright, right, helps Emily Grob write in Japanese as part of the Global Language and Culture Festival at the Kirkhof Center on March 20.

Photo Credit: Cory Morse

Grand Valley hosted its second Global Language & Culture Festival on March 20. The event brought in roughly 700 high school students from eight schools to engage with GVSU’s language programs and multicultural groups at the Kirkhof Center.

Students had the opportunity to visit tables and speak with different language programs. These tables often included items of cultural significance, like clothing, food and art, among other things.

Music from different languages and cultures played while students explored different activities such as board games from other countries, escape room boxes, multilingual VR experiences and multilingual puppet shows. Some faculty members taught their classes in the Kirkhof Center that day to give high school students an opportunity to sit in and experience a collegiate language class.

“We’re highlighting the positive impact of languages, intercultural understanding and cultural humility in our lives, education and careers,” said Janel Pettes Guikema, professor and chair of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department. “Just getting students to see that it’s more than just your Spanish One class at your school.”