FA C U LT Y F O C U S
¡SÍ SE PUEDE! Q & A with Retiring World Languages Faculty Martha Parks
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orld Languages Faculty Martha Parks is a staple of her department at DSHA, and has been since her arrival more than a decade ago. A native of Quito, Ecuador, she teaches Spanish with a passion and understanding that is invaluable — to both faculty and students alike. She strives to develop a confidence in her students’ abilities and an appreciation for both language and culture. In addition to her dedication in the classroom, she has given countless students the opportunity to immerse themselves into the Spanish culture outside of the classroom. She coordinated a service mission trip for Spanish students to the Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador for 12 years. She also had a desire to put Latina students on the map at DSHA, and therefore worked to organize and grow the Furia Latina Club, which celebrates and promotes Latino culture. Though she is retiring, she has left her mark on the place of DSHA in ways that matter to the mission.
Q: What is ¡Juntos! ? What inspired you to coordinate ¡Juntos! after the founding teacher left DSHA?
work where the need is the greatest — washing dishes, helping to prepare meals, or teaching students and adults.
A: ¡Juntos! is a mission program; it is not like a trip to Spain or Italy. Every summer for the last 14 years — except for the last two years — I take 10-12 DSHA students at the end of the school year to serve the poorest of the poor in Ecuador for two weeks. The mission, the Working Boys Center in Quito, Ecuador, is run by my aunt, who is a BVM (Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and Fr. Halligan. We are led by American volunteers, some of whom are former DSHA students who have spent a year or two in service after they graduated from college. I am from Quito and I’ve known the mission for 50 years; I connect with the people working at the site and see the need for the day. Students
I brought the name ¡Juntos! to the program; in Spanish, it means “working together.”
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Q: What has it meant for you to be able to provide an experience like ¡Juntos! for DSHA students? A: It is such a fulfilling experience for them. It makes me happy to see that my hard efforts in teaching them from August to May have paid off. Once we get there, they cannot use English, only Spanish. It is also fulfilling for them. They find compassion and caring; they come back with a sense of gratitude. They
