Fresh from Spain, teachers bring language, culture to Arlington ISD

Six Spanish-born teachers will join the district this year, bringing the world to Arlington.

ARLINGTON, Texas — At schools like Thornton Elementary in Arlington, teaching kids Spanish would be easy if only you could take them directly to Spain.

However, since that’s physically and fiscally impossible, the district brought Spain to its students.

“That’s the next best thing,” Arlington ISD World Languages Director Jackeline Orsini said. “Having someone that comes from another nation opens their doors, their minds, their lens.”

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Orsini said a lot of Arlington ISD students are part of a dual language program, meaning curriculum is taught to them in two languages. That’s why the district just welcomed six new teachers straight from Spain.

As part of a partnership between the United States and Spain, native Spaniards have been coming to America to teach for nearly four decades. Arlington ISD joined the program just a few years ago and said it’s been profoundly life-changing.

“We’re opening up the world,” said Ruth Martin, a lead specialist in Arlington ISD’s world languages program.

Martin brought the program to Arlington three years ago and says she knows it’s changed lives because it changed hers.

This new group of teachers hopes it’s a chance for them to grow, too.

“It’s an opportunity to continue learning,” fourth grade teacher Fernando Nieto Olmedo said.

Administrators said it’s a dream to welcome them. They said these teachers are among the best anywhere.

“Every opportunity is a dream because you have the opportunity to change your life,” fourth grade teacher Andrea Villalba said.

They’ll teach several things: math, science, reading, writing, but more importantly, they want to share their culture, its history and traditions.

“I think that’s a very good way to learn through learning about culture,” teacher Marina Moya said. “It’s a dream come true.

“I think we can enrich each other,” Villalba said.

“I feel like you have to capture kids’ hearts before you capture their minds,” Orsini said.

That’s why, Orsini said, although they’re here to teach, they’re also here to discover: the kids, their culture, and their lives.

“The most important thing is to listen,” Olmedo said.

“That’s my biggest challenge,” said Villalba.

“You open your mind, you see different things,” Moya said. “I think that enriches you and lets you grow.”

No matter where they come from, educators can change the world, not because they know how to teach, but because they understand we’re at our best when we learn from each other.