While walking through the halls of Athens, you will hear conversations in many different languages: English, most prominently, but also Spanish, French and Chinese, all languages taught here at Athens. These language classes give students both professional opportunities and the chance to experience new media and connect with more people. There is, however, one more language that you will often hear spoken at Athens, despite it not being taught: Arabic.

Arabic is one of the most-spoken languages in the world, and the 4th most spoken foreign language in North Carolina, just behind French, Spanish and Chinese, which are all taught at Athens. Athens Drive specifically is one of the most diverse high schools in Wake County, with 59% of students coming from minority racial or ethnic groups.

“Compared to other high schools, we have a lot of Arabs at Athens,” said Issra Bahour, president of the Muslim Student Association at Athens Drive. “There’s still people coming in from other countries, even now, so there’s a lot.”

Many of these Arab students speak Arabic, leading to the Arabic language and Arab culture already having a large presence among the students of Athens, even though there is no Arabic class.

“Languages can be helpful for a student in a lot of ways,” said Renata Barsanti, French teacher at Athens Drive. “Especially in a community as diverse as this one, it’s really cool for students to be learning each other’s languages and to be able to at least go up to each other and say ‘hi!’ It can build friendships, and it can help you understand people’s cultures better.”

By taking an Arabic class, students who do not natively speak Arabic would be able to better connect with those who do, and could gain a better appreciation for Arab cultures. An Arabic class would also provide students with a greater understanding of the issues that Arabs and Arab Americans face, which are very relevant to today’s world — bigotry and hate crimes against Arabs have been rising in the United States since 9/11 and, more recently, Israel’s war on Gaza, while at the same time Arab population and culture in the US has been growing.

An Arabic class would not only be helpful for students who do not currently speak it, but also for those who already do. An Arabic class or a Heritage Arabic class would allow students to study and enjoy Arabic literature and media, while improving their understanding of the Arabic language, just as English-speaking students are able to do in English classes, or Spanish-speaking students are able to do in a Heritage Spanish class.

“If we had an Arabic class, it would allow students who are familiar with the language to grow closer to their roots, and invite others to learn about their culture and build a connection with it,” said Bahour.

For all students, knowing Arabic or another language can also be very helpful in their professional lives.

“It can be a real leg up when you’re applying for a job,” said Barsanti. “There are so many skills it can show your employer that you have: flexibility, empathy, cultural awareness, bravery, and a willingness to make mistakes and learn from them.”

Furthermore, it can also be very helpful when students are applying for colleges. Some colleges, like UNC-Chapel Hill, require all applicants to have taken a foreign language class in high school, or otherwise be able to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language. For other colleges without this requirement, the ability to speak another language, and all the assorted skills that come with that, will still be one talent that colleges will look for, and will be beneficial for students’ college applications.

There is one major issue which could hinder efforts to include an Arabic class here at Athens: the recent effort from the Federal government to greatly lessen funding to schools. However, an Arabic class would still be an extremely beneficial class to offer for students; it could help with their college applications, their professional lives, their personal lives and their communication skills, and it could allow students to learn more about and connect with other cultures.

“Our student body is so wonderful and diverse, and there are so many great people,” said Barsanti. “I think any extra steps we can take to deepen the relationships among the people in our student body would be super beneficial, and so I think offering an Arabic class would be amazing.”