Spanish 3 Makes Salsa

Spanish+3+Makes+Salsa

Jordan Gaffney, Yearbook Staff

A judged salsa-making competition was held in Mr. Casagrande’s Spanish 3 class. Some students knew how to make salsa and theirs turned out delicious, and others made a nasty mush that no one wanted to eat. This left the judges, Mr. Casagrande, Ms. Elliot, and Mr. Johnson, scared to taste.  

Due November 10th, students were assigned to film and produce an instructional video on how to make salsa. Then after making the salsa at home, they were to bring it into class– 7:30am sharp– for the competition. There was a total of sixteen salsas brought in that the judges tasted throughout first period. While this was an exciting experience, no one wanted chips and salsa for breakfast.  

“Eating salsa this early would definitely not be my first option, but they were good, and I am proud of my students for trying their best because most of them had never cooked anything before, let alone salsa,” Casagrande said. He was very open to eating whatever his students served because he understood the hard work put into making them. The class made salsa because it tied into the new conjugation they were learning in class, which was required to be incorporated into their instructional videos.  

 “Not only did they just make salsa, but they also had to write a script in Spanish using the imperative form and be able to speak while making the salsa, then editing the video and submitting it,” Casagrande said. 

Now it came down to the big decision: who has the best salsa. It was tough for the judges since there were sixteen different choices, but they were able to narrow it down to one. “I think all three of us agree that salsa six was the best, although a lot of them were very good,” Johnson said. Nikolai Knowlton was the chef of salsa six. “I could tell that he really tried to actually make a good salsa and was not just doing it for the points,” Casagrande said.