Sixteen first-grade pupils of Stevens Creek Elementary School reached up and tugged on their ear lobes Wednesday morning. In unison, they said, "las orejas," which is Spanish for the ears.

The pupils continued the lesson with no thought of the effort keeping Spanish-instruction program at their school afloat.

"You just piece together every little bit (of funds) you can to keep the program going," said Michelle Paschal, the principal of Stevens Creek Elementary.

The program costs $200,000 annually to maintain, Mrs. Paschal estimated. A state grant covers $110,604 of the cost, but those funds dwindle each year.

Earlier this year, Georgia lawmakers transferred $325,000 from the state's foreign-language instruction fund, essentially eliminating funding for second-grade foreign-language instruction. In previous years, legislators also eliminated funding for kindergarten and first-grade instruction at the 22 Georgia elementary schools offering a foreign language class.

To help make up the cost, school officials dropped the number of Spanish classes pupils receive each week from five to four. Mrs. Paschal also used a $10,000 grant, which each school receives from the Columbia County Board of Education, for the Spanish program. She also used half the salary for an enrichment position, about $40,000, for a Spanish teacher.

The rest of the funding, which is mostly used to pay four Spanish-language instructors, is made up by donations from the school's Parent-Teacher Organization and county funds.

However, if the state grant continues to diminish, Mrs. Paschal worries the program, the only one of its kind in Columbia County, might become unsalvageable.

"To our knowledge, the state grant is not threatened," she said. "But if something does happen to it, I don't think there would be any way to save the program."

Despite Mrs. Paschal's optimism, state officials are again showing signs of making foreign-language instruction for the lower grades more difficult.

In the past, the Georgia Department of Education required a flat fee of $1,953 for teachers paid using grants to participate in the state's health benefit plan. This year, the state charged 14.2 percent of those same teachers' salaries.

Paying for the unexpected expense cost the school $20,877, which was paid for by the school board.

Calling the program "worthwhile," Mrs. Paschal said she hopes state officials will see the benefit of the classes and increase funding for elementary foreign-language instruction.

"Studies show that younger children are much more receptive to learning a new language," she said. "We all learn English when we're babies.

"When you talk about creating a world-class school system that can compete globally, this is the kind of program that can help accomplish that."

Reach Donnie Fetter at 868-1222, ext. 113, or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.