FACULTY
FACULT Y FOCUS
Christina Alvarez Middle School Spanish
What is your educational background? I received my B.A. in Spanish and Psychology from Wake Forest and my MAT from Belmont University. I taught in Metro Nashville Public Schools for six years before coming to Ensworth and taught most recently at Hume-Fogg Academic High School for four years. During my tenure, I have taught every level of Spanish (Spanish I, II, III, IV, and AP Spanish Language & Culture). How did you learn Spanish? As a first-generation Cuban American, I learned Spanish at home from both of my parents and other family members. Then, I chose to major in it while at Wake Forest University. What led you to Ensworth? After graduating from Wake Forest, I moved to New York City for a year and then to Nashville with my now husband, an Ensworth alumnus. I had heard all about Ensworth for years and upon my arrival in Nashville, my mother-in-law, also an Ensworth alumna, connected me with Dr. Sarah Buchanan. Dr. Buchanan informed me that there was a need for a long-term Spanish substitute and, after interviewing, I joined Ensworth for several months during the 2009-2010 school year. My teaching experience at Ensworth encouraged me to enroll in the Master of Arts in Teaching program at Belmont and pursue licensure to teach Spanish. In 2018, I was hired for the same position in the same classroom in which I had previously been a long-term substitute teacher. I am very thankful to be a part of this amazing community and working alongside many of the same colleagues that had been here over a decade before. How does the study of world languages positively impact students? Learning other languages and understanding the culture of the people who speak them is a 21st Century skill that is vital to success in the global environment in which our students will live and work. Moreover, allowing our students to engage
with other languages and cultures enables them to gain a more profound understanding of their own language and culture. To this end, I appreciate the flexibility to engage in skills-based learning approach within our curriculum at Ensworth.
What’s an interesting aspect of the Spanish language that most people may not know? Inverted (or upside down) question marks and exclamation points are unique to the Spanish language. These helpful punctuation marks give the reader a warning sign and prepare them to read the sentence correctly as either a question or an exclamatory statement. In English, sentences start at the capital letter at the beginning and finish with the punctuation mark at the end. However, by placing the inverted punctuation at the beginning of the clause (it won’t always be at the front of the sentence) the reader has advanced notice and can modify their tone, if necessary. Do you have any exciting plans for the upcoming school year? I am excited to plan our second annual Hispanic Heritage Month assembly. Last year’s assembly was a wonderful opportunity to broaden our cultural awareness, and I anticipate this year’s celebration will be even better. In the classroom, I look forward to reconnecting with our international pen-pals. In the past, we have had pen-pals in Ecuador and in Spain. Share a few interesting facts about yourself. • My oldest son will begin Kindergarten this upcoming school year as a third-generation Ensworth tiger. • I have traveled to four different continents and over 18 different countries. I hope to add more destinations to this list soon!
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