Kids Teachers

Gabi Huebler Kids Teacher Gabi was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She finished high school with a bachelor’s degree in Literature. She studied Psychology and Tourism and taught English to kids in Buenos Aires in a private school for 3 years, and private lessons too. She worked in the airline industry for 6 years in Buenos Aires, specializing in customer service, ticket sales and international fares. Gabi moved to Boulder in 1991, and has taught Spanish to kids and adults since. She founded, with a friend from Peru, a home based preschool-playgroup where we taught Spanish to English speaking children. She also works as a para-educator for a BVSD school. Gabi loves working with children. Her language and culture are her passion too, and she’s so happy to be able to pass them along. In her free time she likes to spend time with her family (she three kids who, by the way, speak perfect Spanish!), play tennis and read. For more on Gabi, read her interview on our blog here.

 

Neymar Lopez Adult and Kids Teacher As a Latin America native, Neymar loves the Spanish language and Latin culture. She was born and raised in Venezuela, where she had a small art gallery with a display of her creations. She taught art classes for many years, showing her students nontraditional and modern techniques to make paintings in a unique and remarkable style. She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Oriente University, after which she moved to Denver and joined a firm. She also began teaching Spanish classes, which she loves doing. Her students inspire her to keep teaching: “they make me laugh as much as possible, and I always try to return the favor!” Recently moved to Boulder, Neymar has quickly become enamored of its people and landscapes. She enjoys painting, dancing, hiking and cooking new dishes!

 

Lucia Gastaldi Adult and Kids Teacher Lucia is one of our most vibrant energetic teachers at the Spanish Institute. She believes in making her classes fun and interactive. Lucia is responsible for developing our teacher’s guides for our beginner and intermediate courses. She grew up in Mexico City, where she received an associate degree in teaching English at the Universisty of Nezahualcoyotl as an English teacher. She has taught English and Spanish to adults and kids in both Mexico and the U.S.

 

Isabel Enright Adult and Kids Teacher Isabel discovered her love and passion for teaching Spanish to children in 1995, when she started teaching with BVSD elementary schools. She has tremendously enjoyed the opportunity to share her native language and culture with all of her students. Isabel believes that learning a language should be fun; before they know it, both adults and children alike are speaking and singing in Spanish. She likes to plant the seed of joy for languages. Isabel came to the U.S. in 1994 and loves to spend her free time with her husband Jerry, and her two children who are bilingual. She became a naturalized US citizen in 2008. Isabel enjoys listening to all types of music, and watching and participating in dances from all over the world. She also likes scrapbooking and Jazzercise, but most of all she loves spending time with all of her family in Mexico. For more on Isabel, read her interview on our blog here.

 

Angela Ortiz Roa Kids Teacher Angela Ortiz Roa is a mother of a beautiful 5 year old boy, who has taught her about patience and love. She initially gained experience with children through her big Colombian family. She moved to the U.S. twelve years ago and became a bilingual child care provider and also taught Spanish at the elementary level. Today, she works as a Pre-Certified Trilingual interpreter (ASL, English, Spanish)for a well respected agency in the Denver Metro Area. Angela says, “Everyday I become more involved with my Latino community and embrace more and more my heritage. In order to learn a language fully, it is imperative to learn the culture around that language. If we teach language and culture to the children, they will grow up to be respectful adults and they won’t feel intimidated by what is different or unknown to them. I believe this awareness is what will help us create in a better world for the future, for the children. I am thankful to the Spanish Institute for the opportunity to work in what I think I do best!” For more on Angela, read her interview on our blog here.

 

Mercedes Paz Hormiga Adult and Kids Teacher Mercedes Paz was born in Colombia. In 2005 she started a teaching internship in area schools and later wrote her undergraduate Thesis based on the children who lived in the countryside of Colombia. The main purpose of her research was Teaching English from context and free expression. In 2008, Mercedes received her Bachelor’s degree in Education: teaching English and French. After teaching for some time in Colombia, Mercedes participate in a 2 year exchange program here in the U.S. During this period she had the opportunity to return to school and study Children Development. Since that time, she has been teaching Spanish to children through the Spanish Institute while attending school in order to improve her English. She plans to continue teaching Spanish and pursue her master’s degree. For more on Mercedes, read her interview on our blog here.

 

Barbara Toloza Adult and Kids Teacher Barbara is an experienced teacher from Chile, South America. She received her Bachelor’s degree and teachers certification from the Universidad Adventista de Chile (Chilean Adventist University). Since graduating from university Barbara has taught high school Spanish in France, lived in Sweden and Italy, and can now speak five languages. Barbara combines her music and language skills to offer creative and dynamic approaches towards language learning. She is able to use her cultural knowledge and experience in learning and teaching languages to offer top-notch lesson plans to students of all levels and abilities. Barbara loves to learn and is currently taking a course on neuroscience to better understand the brains learning process. This allows her to implement the most current teaching strategies.