Three Hackberry Elementary School students who grew up speaking English decided to take the STAAR test in Spanish.
Learning a second language can be intimidating, but the three Little Elm Independent School District fourth graders stepped out of their comfort zone for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test.
"Spanish to me is like a challenge and I think challenges are fun," student Arielle Silver said. "So I thought that it would be something new to try. And I wanted to see how it did."
Silver and her friends Mariam Jalloh and Caden Richardson took the test in a language they've only been learning about four years.
"There was no doubt that English was going to be a non-issue for him," Caden's father Matthew Richardson said. "So we really wanted him to push himself."
All three students passed. Their teacher, Manuel Castillo said he smiled for two weeks.
"The kids were really excited," he said. "One of the was jumping and hugging everyone."
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Caden said he would definitely take the test in Spanish again next year.
"I just like the feeling and I want to do it again," he said.
Little Elm ISD officials said they are expanding the program and could have five students take the test in Spanish this year. The Texas Education Agency doesn't know of another school with native English speakers taking the test in Spanish.
NBC 5's Ellen Bryan contributed to this report.
