¡Hola!

My Latina blood leaves little room for anything mellow or subdued. I am unapologetically energetic and passionate about the language, culture and history of what I teach and I am guilty of unleashing my enthusiasm upon my students! I love seeing my students get as excited as I am about languages and admit to being simultaneously proud and jealous of duolingo streaks that have far surpassed my own!

I grew up in Puerto Rico speaking Spanish and English. My high school French teacher told us that by learning French, we get to be ourselves in another language. It did not fully sink in at the time because I was already “myself” in two languages. Then I moved to Paris. What a joy it was to realize I did not have to spend my time there as a mime, struggling to make myself understood.  I could still be me - in French!   My students have that ability as well. I want them to be who they are, only in Spanish. They may not be able to physically travel to somewhere like Puerto Rico during the school year, but I can bring Puerto Rico here!  I try to make my lessons come to life as much as possible.  The more we apply real-life situations to what we're learning, the more valuable, useful and exciting it becomes!

In France, I taught Spanish. Here in North Carolina, I have taught Spanish and French at Orange and Northwood High Schools. I began teaching at Woods in 2011 and I’m as thrilled now as I was then to be a member of the Woods community as a teacher and parent.