Kirkland Mayor James Lauinger says he would love to be able to speak with someone beyond “coma estas” or “muchas gracias.”
“That’s why I’m walking out today with these books,” he told Kirkland Junior High students on a recent afternoon, pointing to a stack of Spanish books given to him by Spanish teacher Ruth Anderson. “I’m going to learn Spanish.”
Though Lauinger does not yet know how to speak a second language, as a city leader he is fluent in something else – diversity. He recently spent an entire day visiting Anderson’s Spanish classes to speak with them on the issue.
The country has gone through 200 years of some form of intolerance for other cultures and beliefs, he explained, “but here’s a new day and age.”
To be successful in this new “multicultural nation,” there are three things students will need: a college education, the ability to move quickly to any place in the world to live and work, and to know a second language, Lauinger told students.
He spoke about one of his sons, 38-year-old Mike, an engineer for Seattle-based Korry Electronics Co. Mike, who can speak Spanish, recently got an MBA degree at UW-Bothell to combine with his engineering degree.
“He’s highly sought after because of that,” Lauinger noted.
During each class, Spanish students had the opportunity to pull out index cards and ask the Mayor questions they had written down.
“How will being exposed to a diverse background affect your future,” Stephanie Kim asked.
Lauinger replied it’s going to teach you something that maybe isn’t even on the curriculum – tolerance.
Connor Doyle wanted to know what languages Lauinger thought were the most important to learn. His answer: Spanish and Chinese.
Student Jasmine Clark asked what changes in the Spanish-speaking population the Mayor has seen since he took office.
Not only has the Spanish population taken off in the state of Washington, but the Eastside is experiencing a major growth in multiple cultures, he said.
“When we have a school (Lake Hills Elementary) just here in Bellevue where 39 different languages are spoken, that’s pretty substantial,” he said.
Another student, Kennedy Nicholson, asked how accepting the Kirkland community is of different cultures.
“The fact that I’m talking to you says that the mayor is interested and a lot of what we have to do in leadership is set an example,” Lauinger said, adding he’s been involved with the Eastside Latino Leadership Forum. He has also participated in many events with different religious communities, including two Buddhist temples on Rose Hill and a mosque on State Street.
“These are people who are hungry to be pulled in to be a part of the process,” he said of the Muslims, “and that’s the responsibility of leadership is to help them, give them the ability to enter.”
After her final Spanish class, teacher Ruth Anderson pointed to a row of Spanish books in the back of the classroom that Lauinger had given to her to use with her students.
“He is really expanding student’s horizons,” Anderson said of the Mayor’s visit. “They really need to step out of the box and understand there are other worlds, other languages and we need to accept each other.”
