By Keegan Brown

Op/Ed Editor

   Teaching a foreign language to high school students is a lot of work, but try doing it at multiple schools. Cecilia Jimenez juggles teaching across two campuses while still making an impact on her students. This year, she works at R.J. Reynolds High School as well as Career Center. In the past, she worked at three schools at a time.

    “For instance, last year, I was teaching at Reynolds, West, and here (Career Center) and seven classes,” Jimenez said. “Which is a lot of work, so now, this year, I’m teaching six classes.”

    Jimenez currently teaches one class at RJR, an AP Spanish Literature class, which is special as it only has three students in it. Senior Adelaide Merrick is taking this class now and had Jimenez last year for AP Spanish Language.

    “Her class is unique because it is extremely small, and we are pushed to be better students every day,” Merrick said.

    In every class, her students can only speak Spanish, which challenges her students while getting them to practice. Senior Poppy Veneziano really benefits from this.

    “Her class is made in a way that I am fully immersed in the language, which helps me not only speak and read Spanish, but I am thinking in Spanish,” Veneziano said. “I like how she fully immerses us.”

    Jimenez makes her classes engaging not only by speaking in Spanish but also by the different types of assignments she gives. She assigns fun projects and presentations that are distinctive to her classes.

    “I have never really done that in any other class,” Veneziano said. “I think it is very helpful because not only am I learning, but I am gaining something that I can associate specific terms and concepts with.”

    Since she is teaching at multiple schools in a single school year, it can be very hard to stay on top of everything without being organized.

    “It’s challenging because you gotta keep up with it because each school has different rules and procedures, and the calendar is quite different,” Jimenez said. “It’s like having different bosses, different jobs.”

    Jimenez is well prepared for this as she has had a lot of education and teaching experience. She majored in Spanish language and got her master’s and PhD. She loves teaching Spanish literature and hopes to help inspire students to continue learning Spanish after high school.

    “My goal is for students to do a double major in college: Spanish and whatever they want,” Jimenez said. That’s my major; that’s my goal.”

    Merrick plans on doing just that. She wants to double major in Spanish as well as an undecided major, and Veneziano plans to minor in Spanish.

    “She helps me prepare for college in many ways,” Merrick said. “The level of reading and class content is college level, as well as our essays.”

    Jimenez wants to prepare her students for the future by giving them a good footing to be able to study more Spanish if they choose.

    “I like to have high standards for each level, so each level can have a foundation, so they can go to the next level,” Jimenez said. “And that’s why I like to see progress.”

    Jimenez makes a huge impact on all of the high schoolers she teaches as she sets them up for success.

    “I see the big picture,” Jimenez said. “So I want you to succeed here. So now I want you to be the best. So if I want you to be the best, you’re gonna have the best education. So that’s what I do.”