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Hartford High School

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News from the World Language & Culture Dept

News from the World Language & Culture Dept

Bienvenidos, Willkommen & Bienvenue to the World Language & Culture Department at HHS! 

Courses

World Language and Culture Club

Join us every Tuesday during lunch in room 123! The World Language and Culture Club welcomes all students who are interested in exploring the diverse languages and cultures of our world.

Our club is dedicated to providing hands-on cultural experiences through pen pal exchanges, international cuisine, travel opportunities (both domestic and international), and engaging presentations. We regularly invite students, staff, and community members to share their language-learning journeys and cultural experiences with our group.

Whether you're studying a world language, curious about different cultures, or interested in connecting with peers from around the globe, our club offers a welcoming space to broaden your horizons and celebrate diversity.

Please contact Madame Allison Litten or Maestra Natalie Chaput if you have any questions or would like to join.

A circular logo with the words 'NUR GEMEINSAM' in white, spiraling inwards towards a globe.

Welcome to HHS!

A smiling woman with a backpack takes a selfie in a scenic, hilly landscape.

The World Language and Culture department welcomes a new Spanish teacher. Cata Ruiz is a Spanish-Cuban-American from Miami, Florida. She discovered her love for teaching while working as an English teacher in Ecuador. When she moved to Vermont, she taught English at an alternative-therapeutic school for a few years. This deepened her love of teaching, pushing her to seek a Master’s degree and licensure in both English and Spanish. Growing up in a hispanic community, she has always appreciated and loved the Spanish language and culture. Teaching Spanish has always been a dream of hers, and after completing an MAT program and student teaching at Montpelier High School, her dream has finally become a reality! In her free time, she loves to read, garden, hike, play volleyball and line dance. She is also a photographer who loves to capture the beautiful landscapes and culture of local and foreign places.

Travel Opportunities

  • Every year since 2014 HHS students have participated in a Global Citizenship Trip. Students have traveled to Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Morocco and Vietnam, just to name a few. The goal of the trip is for students to participate in cultural immersion, community engagement and a global citizenship experience. All trips provide an opportunity for students to acquire and apply world language skills in a real-world, culturally authentic setting. Twenty-four students from HHS will be traveling with three teachers/chaperones from April 14, 2026 - April 24, 2026 to Cusco, Perú, the Andes Mountains and Machu Picchu. Students will experience cultural and linguistic immersion while staying with host families during the trip.

  • Hartford High School is excited to introduce a new international opportunity for the 2026 school year: the French-Canadian Culture Trip. This experience will take students to Montreal, Canada, where they will immerse themselves in the city’s vibrant French culture by exploring its historic neighborhoods, interacting with locals, and learning about its rich heritage firsthand. Designed to deepen cultural understanding and global awareness, this trip serves as the Senior Capstone Project of Gavin Irish, a senior and Public Media Manager for the WLCC, and reflects HHS’s continued commitment to meaningful cultural exchange experiences.

    A city square with historic buildings and modern architecture under a twilight sky.A young person with glasses and a plaid shirt leans on a stone wall outdoors.

  • Hartford High School has been a GAPP School for over a decade. We have partnered with schools in Heidelberg, Trier, and most recently Kronach, Germany.  The exchange program promotes international cooperation and empathy by having partner schools visit each other, immerse themselves in the local community and work together on service-learning projects.  HHS has been named a “School of Distinction” by GAPP. 

    A group of eight young people stand together outdoors with a sunset sky in the background.

    A group of HHS students traveled to Germany in April of 2025 for two weeks, and our partner school visited us in August of 2024. This program is open to students who take Advanced Topics in German, an upper-level German class. The program plans to travel again in the spring of 2027.

    Please see Mr. Thatcher Hinman for more information about the GAPP exchange program.

    A group of people walk towards a large, ornate church with twin spires under a cloudy sky.A diverse group of young people poses for a photo on outdoor steps.A group of nine young people stand and crouch in front of a blooming tree and a stone wall.Visitors walk through a memorial site with rows of trees and open grounds.Two women wave from the back of a small red tourist train in a European town square.