By Melissa Dunson

mdunson@joplinglobe.com

Andi Umbarger, 17, attends a small Southeast Kansas high school, but she has hopes of someday being a globe-trotter.

That global ambition started with learning a foreign language.

“It opens your eyes up to the fact that not everyone is just like you,” Umbarger said. “It makes you respect more people.”

Umbarger, a Girard High School student, was among about 1,400 area high-school students who participated in Foreign Language Field Day on Tuesday at Missouri Southern State University.

Leslie Parker, director of the International Language Resource Center at MSSU and organizer of the event, remembers when she attended Foreign Language Field Day years ago as a high-school student. Parker eventually became a Spanish instructor and director of the language center at MSSU. She said the event gets students excited about foreign languages and motivates them to further their skills.

The students from 47 public and private schools competed in events testing their language skills and creativity. They made posters, demonstrated vocabulary and reading skills, answered questions about cultures and geography, or performed skits.

The students competed in German, French and Spanish, and also attended short classes on other languages taught at MSSU, including Arabic, Japanese, Chinese and Russian.

Kathrine Quiñonos, 17, a Chanute (Kan.) High School student, said this was her fourth year competing at Foreign Language Field Day.

“It’s made me want to think about learning a little more about the language (Spanish),” said Quiñonos, who plans to minor in Spanish in college.

Parker said studying a different language opens up the world to students such as Umbarger, and it helps create global citizens.

“We live in the middle of the country, and studying a foreign language can be a good way to expose someone to the rest of the world,” Parker said. “It might open your mind to people who are different and make you more tolerant. So, in an overall global sense, it is important.”

That’s the case for Trevor Tanner, 17, a Cassville High School student. He said that after studying French and attending Foreign Language Field Day, he wants to visit Paris and feels confident in his ability to communicate.

“I feel like I could go to another country and understand what people are saying,” he said.