Upon arriving back at school, Stamford High students were surprised to find that the Spanish teachers listed on their schedules were not there and they had substitute teachers for the first days of class. Stamford High lost 3 Spanish teachers from last year to this year; one to retirement, one who is studying abroad in Spain, and another who chose not to return for the 14-15 school year.

Foreign Language department head Dr. Lawson says that there have been many interviews, and replacements have been found for two of the three spots. She says that they have been looking for not only teachers with the talent to speak the language, but also those who actually want to be with the students. She has been working very hard and being very selective to ensure that Stamford High students get the best possible experience with these new teachers. The replacement teachers should be arriving over the next one to two weeks.

It is very difficult to find new teachers because the requirements to become a foreign language teacher are very intense. In addition to needing a teaching degree, a foreign language teacher must pay to take a separate test on the language that they will be teaching.

Dr. Lawson does have a long term plan in place just in case they cannot find a teacher. More advanced spanish students will go to the Media Center to work with a program called Duolingo. This computer program assesses the student’s level by asking he/she to translate sentences as well as listen to words and phrases and be able to comprehend them. From there the program gives the students individual exercises to improve in areas that they may be having difficulty with. For the less advanced students, Dr. Lawson has put together packets with worksheets to help them review their Spanish.

In addition, for the time being, former Stamford High spanish teacher Ms. Beret has come out of retirement to assist in the classes without teachers. She does various reading and writing exercises to help the classes refresh their basic Spanish skills.

Some students are overjoyed to be without a teacher for a few weeks. Kayleigh Browning (junior) says, “I love it! Its like having a study hall!” Others, however, are a bit wary. Sophomore Brandon Hoak says, “It’s been a bit disconcerting not knowing when I will have an actual teacher, but hopefully we can get a substitute or a fill-in teacher and start to review some Spanish so we don’t fall too far behind.”