Learning any new language can be challenging. In Ms. Bryson’s class, she aims to make this untrue, ensuring that Spanish is a language that is both fun and easy to learn.

Ms. Bryson is one of the many teachers at Verrado High School. She is currently in her second year here at Verrado, teaching in the Spanish Department alongside her peers. She has been teaching Spanish for two years, previously being a math teacher for 10+ years.

Ms. Bryson’s inspiration for becoming a teacher was to find something to do that would be comfortable enough for her profession, and a Spanish teacher was what she felt best suited to this dream.

“I wanted to feel comfortable enough and just be a Spanish teacher, considering it is my first language. I knew I could do way better teaching Spanish rather than math because that’s what I used to do and realized that I should try and follow my passion.”

Ms. Bryson’s class is what she hopes to be “a space where you are more relaxed”, even when the vibe in her classroom can occasionally be a bit of a stressful workroom with all the disruptions.

“It depends on which class it is. Sometimes the environment can get hectic if they are freshmen, and I might have to be more strict with them rather than my Spanish II Classes”.

In her class, she wants kids to understand the importance of Hispanic culture. She wants to wow them with the many things that different Hispanic cultures do and their history.

“I’m very proud of my Hispanic culture and I want to show students especially here in the United States that you can’t just label Hispanics into one box. There are all kinds of Hispanic cultures to look at and explore and so I want to be able to teach that to students and give them some curiosity to go and explore other cultures not just the Latino, and Hispanic cultures because we are all different people from different places with rich cultures.”

Ms. Bryson continues to try and encourage students to learn the language in an attempt to convince them that they can use that language in the real world and to learn about their culture.

“I try to find patterns and logic that go to Spanish, such as activities, so that students can engage in learning Spanish so that it’s not super boring for them.”

She also states, “It’s normal, you know, like cultures, some have some of the same characteristics and some don’t and that’s what I try to incorporate pretty much. I want them to know that we have interesting cultures, and I try to incorporate that with projects that we do in Spanish. I want to connect with students in that way.”

If you haven’t taken or thought of taking Spanish, try it out and learn a new language. It could potentially help you in situations like going to a different country or speaking to someone who comes from a Hispanic/Latino culture, as well as educate you about their important history.