Just ask Mariell Ramirez and Christie Gjervold, who teach kindergarten at Selma Elementary School. Their 47 students are learning English and Spanish with the help of songs, books and games.

Ramirez marvels at what her students can do. “English- and Spanish-speaking kids pronouncing complete sentences in Spanish and completing their thoughts in Spanish,” she said. “Sometimes, they start saying little words in Spanish and then complete it in English.”

Very little English is spoken in Ramirez’s classroom, which is adorned with photos of her home country, Venezuela. Last week, she had her students point out countries on a blank map. The students pronounced the countries with a Spanish accent. Ramirez praised the children with “muy bueno,” or “very good,” and gave him high-fives.

“What I have heard from the parents, especially the Spanish-speaking parents, is they want their kids to be able to keep that native language, their mother’s tongue,” Ramirez said. “They want not only to be able to speak it, but to be able to read it and write it properly.”

Across the hall, Gjervold was reading her students a book in English. The book stressed the importance of seeing a dentist regularly, brushing teeth and staying away from foods with lots of sugar. Afterwards, the students wrote, “I go to the dentist” on paper toothbrushes.

“Kindergarten is the best stage in the world because they are so willing to try anything,” Gjervold said. “Even if they were a little worried or shy in the beginning, boy, they are not shy now.”

Selma Elementary began its dual-language program last year with Ramirez teaching 24 students. Already, 56 of the school’s incoming kindergartners have applied to be in the program.

Students are not the only ones benefiting from the program. “Their homework is in English and Spanish,” Gjervold said. “Let your child teach you.”

Being bilingual will help the students advance their careers in the future, Gjervold said. “If you are bilingual in this time, you are far ahead of everyone else,” she said. “It just opens so many possibilities. Most of the community, it is just as much Spanish-speaking people as English-speaking people. You look around the country, and it’s that way too.”