South High teacher Griselda Salgado Gomez said that since she was a little girl, she has been interested in becoming a Spanish teacher. She said she was not always sure she wanted to pursue that career, but she eventually decided to become a Spanish teacher because Spanish was her first language.
Salgado is from Mexico, where she began her studies before coming to the United States. At South High School, she said she noticed that many Hispanic students struggled to speak Spanish well. She said this may be because Spanish was not spoken often at home or because students felt discouraged when others made fun of their language skills.
She also noticed that there were students in her classes who were not Hispanic but wanted to learn Spanish. She said these students were interested in learning the language and connecting with Spanish-speaking cultures.
This is Salgado’s third year teaching Spanish. She said her students want to learn the language or improve their existing skills.
Salgado said she has noticed improvement in her students’ speaking, writing, reading and comprehension skills compared with the beginning of the school year.
She said she would like to continue teaching Spanish for a long time. If possible, she hopes to teach until retirement, while continuing to help students improve their language skills and build strong connections with them so they know they can count on her.
Salgado said she plans to continue teaching at South High School. In the future, she would like to earn a postgraduate degree in Spanish or education and may eventually consider becoming a dean.
