Fall Break 2024

Fall Break did not disappoint. I will admit that it was a very needed time to regroup and reset for me. This year has been a huge learning curve that's worn me out both mentally and physically! I surely needed the last week off to get out of a rut and have some time to think and make connections. It was a good reminder of God's design for rest. I feel much more relaxed and confident going into the second quarter than I did just a week ago now that I could step back out of the details of each day and take a good look at the bigger picture. 

I had a few moments and hours to myself, which was super nice for this introvert, but I also kept busy with friends and family. First I had a nice lunch out with several bilingual coworkers, then tacos after school with more of those bilingual coworkers. The next day Mike, David, and I went to an Ethnic expo and enjoyed some Colombian food, Mexican food, Puerto Rican food, and even Amish food! After that I had a day and a half touring Covered Bridges with Mike, a day out shopping with David, an afternoon coffee outting with a friend, an evening with Matt and Chrissy's family when my mother-in-law came into town, a lovely afternoon with my mother-in-law at a cute Christian bookstore and then trying hot caramel apple ciders at a local coffee shop, some good old outside time either walking or sitting in the chair watching the boys cut down trees and clear out more land, lunch out with our Colombian friends, and a yearly doc appointment that put my mind at ease over several things I've put off addressing (like a painful heel spur!). Let's just say I've revamped how I structure my class so I am not standing for 3 hours straight every day. And I will make much more use of the stool placed at the front of the room. 

A year ago during Fall Break, God had just begun to bring Spanish back into my life by letting me meet Spanish-speaking neighbors and drawing me to connect with a new friend from church who worked at a Dual Language School. A year later, we now share coworkers from all over the world (this picture alone includes new friends from Spain, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Texas (that counts as another culture, right?)

An annual Ethnic Fest in the community with so many nationalities and cultures represented.

A beautiful Covered Bridge tour/adventure, bringing back lots of childhood memories of the covered bridge right down the road from my house. 

Out of all those bridges, we only made it to eleven! 

We plan to go back and explore more another time. Next time I want to study the history of each bridge. Several of them were built in the 1800's!

Boots and I shared a lovely time outside on a beautiful day, 

especially when two deer decided to go for a stroll down the road right in front of us. 

I sure have enjoyed these special times getting to know my mother-in-law 

better than I ever have before. She's a special lady with a determined spirit!

Wish I had time to write more, but I've got to be back at school bright and early tomorrow morning! Despite enjoying every bit of this break, I missed my multicultural students and can't wait to hear about their adventures. 

So much more than I asked for

Four weeks in to this new chapter. 

I haven't taken time to write or update because, well, the start of a new year can be overwhelming and exhausting. And being in a new school, new district, new grade, and new program meant a whole lot of learning new things. The one thing I'm thankful for is that I was already familiar with the curriculum I'm teaching (just on a different grade level). That has been my saving grace to give me time to learn everything else. I think I'm starting to get into a groove now and found some organizational tactics to keep things running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. For now, at least. Lol.

This weekend one of the Legado teachers invited all of us over to her house for an evening get-together. Our families were invited, as well, but Mike and David already had plans to go the races in Bloomington that evening, so I went alone. Within the first hour, almost all of the other bilingual teachers arrived, and we spent the evening nibbling on a variety of foods while talking and laughing over all of the different vocabulary and phrases in Spanish that each teacher brings from his/her native country. Teachers who are from  or lived in Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, or who grew up bilingual in the U.S. As I sat at the end of the table being my quiet self, just listening and taking it all in, I couldn't help but thank God for allowing me to be part of something so beautiful. And to think that I truly thought I'd walked away from bilingual teaching because it likely didn't exist here. I spent my whole summer reading a variety of authentic Spanish books, studying the history of Spain and all the Spanish-speaking countries, studying Scripture and praying in Spanish, and listening to podcasts from various countries all to reimmerse myself in the language to pass a test to be a licensed Spanish teacher (which I passed!). All God's prep for me for the new coworkers He was bringing into my life. 

The podcast I listened to for at least an hour a day. 

Our weekend get together as a bilingual staff

The newest teachers on staff, from Madrid, Spain, Mallorca, Spain, Mexico, and me

I followed God to a full-time ministry position where I thought I'd stay for many years. Such a strong, undeniable call drew me. But I knew pretty quickly that my new position didn't bring me the joy that working with bilingual families always brought me. Teaching Spanish and creating my own Intro to Spanish class fascinated me as I took the kids on virutal tours to all 21 Spanish-speaking countries, but I missed the daily interaction with kids and families from those countries and cultures. 

Then I noticed an event on Facebook for Fiesta Latina downtown, promoting the country dearest to my heart, Colombia. I knew I had to go. My sweet friend, Hannah, and I had a coffee date around noon and found out the coffee shop was closing at one. So I told her I was going to head downtown to check out the Fiesta Latina going on, and she went with me. I got to introduce her to my son's food, music, and culture, and we visited a little booth for the one and only Dual Language school in Columbus called Legado (knowing our church friend, Meg, worked there). I picked up a book about a little boy going to a new bilingual school, I got some bookmarks made by students, and I talked to some teachers and some parents from the school volunteering. I left my name and number and said I'd love to volunteer or translate for events. My heart lit up in a way I knew it didn't where I was working, and I couldn't ignore that. I put one of the bookmarks up on my prayer wall and started to pray every day about the draw to work there. Was I abandoning the call to work at New Song or could God be calling me back into bilingual education? 

Pics from last year's Fiesta Latina (notice all the yellow Colombian jerseys?)

Now a year later, Fiesta Latina is taking place again next week, featuring Colombia once again. And Hannah and I are both scheduled to work the Legado booth together, her now as a parent of a child at Legado and me as a teacher, promoting the Dual Language program and helping my students raise money for our 6th grade trip to Puerto Rico!

A few of my students working on flags and bracelets to sell to raise money for their class trip

Sometimes God asks us to follow and we think we see where He's leading, but we can't see what He sees or know what He knows. Even though my position at New Song didn't bring me the joy I thought it would, it was still part of the plan and preparation for where I am now. I took my Introduction to the Spanish-speaking countries of the world class that I created at New Song and themed my entire classroom around it at Legado. I jumped from working with second graders in Texas to 4th-6th graders at New Song, all preparing me for the 6th graders I'm teaching now at Legado.  As challenging as taking on this new grade and all that meant I had to learn has been, I still go home every day filled with joy. 

What I haven't had a chance to share yet is that my nearest and dearest friends from Colombia (who are like family) also just moved here to work as houseparents at New Song. They only plan to stay short term as they continue to seek God's direction for their lives here in the United States, but for the time being, they're here! And we go to church together every weekend, and we're celebrating Alvaro's birthday next weekend with all of the Columbus Alspaughs at New Song eating arroz con pollo. :) When I asked God to bring Spanish back into my life a year ago, He did (and is doing) more than I ever could have asked or imagined. He won't be put in a box, no matter how much we try to put Him in one. 

Maestra

 

School is now in swing, 6th graders don't seem as big and bad as I once saw them, and I think I finally realized my true calling. I mean, I guess I found it straight out of college when I took a full-time job as an ESL Instructor (a glorified title for a paraprofessional, uncertified position in the school system working with bilingual students). I took on the title, Maestra, and I found myself treated with incredible respect by my students' families. The Latino culture has a very high level of respect for a teacher, and their children often view the teacher the same. 

Moving to Texas to become a certified teacher, I first worked with mixed classes of kids from several nationalities, though the bilingual children with the lowest English levels were always placed with me. Then I moved down two grade levels to work 100% with bilingual kids, and I reassumed the title "Maestra" for the next 15 years. In English, to be called Teacher all the time might sound a bit disrespectful since I have an actual name, but in Spanish, I always considered it an honor to be called "Maestra" all day, every day. As a maestra, I taught more than just academics. I taught social skills, cross-cultural skills, and skills to speak two languages. But more than that, my bilingualism gave kids a sense of safety and refuge with me. Kids always felt safe when they walked into my room and knew they could speak in either language with me. They felt even safer when I happened to have traveled to their country or even their hometown, which occasionally happened. I loved being that mysterious teacher that didn't look like she should speak Spanish, but did. I also loved the look on the parents' faces that first day when they realized I spoke Spanish and they didn't have to struggle to communicate with me. I wore my title (Maestra) with pride, and it brought me joy.

Then I took a hiatus and spent the last two years working as a teacher in a Christian environment where I got to start each day with prayer and talk about Christ every chance I got within the day. I assumed that would fill me with just as much joy, but I always felt like something was missing. I taught the kids a lot of Spanish, made a lot of fun foods with them from other cultures and did a lot of virtual world-traveling. I even got to be close enough to the kids to just be Miss Rachelle instead of the formal Mrs. Alspaugh that I've always been. Occasionally I got called "Teacher" in the beginning of the year, but Miss Rachelle stuck pretty quickly. 

This year I found an opportunity to jump back into working with bilingual kids, this time with a mix of kids who speak Spanish at home and kids who speak English as home. We had our open house two weeks ago, and my heart lit up when my first student walked into my room with her mom. Her mom walked in nervously, and I saw her eyes light up and all of her nervousness melt away when she realized she could speak to me in Spanish. That's when I knew I was right where I belonged. Now I teach about half my day in Spanish and half my day in English. I've assumed the title Maestra again, and it fills me with incredible joy. I love the way I've also bonded so quickly with the Hispanic students in the traditional classes, as they caught on quickly that they can talk to me in Spanish if they feel like it. When one of them called out to me out on the playground, "Maestra!", and continued his whole conversation with me in Spanish, it touched my heart in a deep way.  That's when it hit me. Funny how I had to walk away from it for two years to realize what I am and was always supposed to be. Not an English teacher. Not a Leadership teacher. Not a Spanish teacher. Not really even a teacher. A maestra, and all that comes with that title. 

This little bag gifted me a few days before school started means even more to me now than it did the day she gave it to me, as well as the Maestra keychain hanging on my badge.