In December of 2019, one Spanish teacher brought together a handful of colleagues, creating what she thought was the high school’s first Spanish book club. Yet to her surprise, she actually revived a club that had existed for over twenty years.
Reintroduced by Spanish teacher Erica O’Mahony, the Spanish book club has united teachers from numerous departments, all eager to immerse themselves in Spanish literature. With 14 current members, they read a wide variety of genres and then meet to discuss what they have learned.
As a member of the club since 2006, Spanish teacher Pedro Méndez said the club is important for all teachers involved.
“With people whose native tongue is Spanish, we feel connected,” Méndez said. “And I have heard from teachers who teach Spanish, [for whom] Spanish is not their mother tongue, it’s a challenge to keep engaged and to go deeper than the Spanish that they use in everyday life. They want to discuss ideas, they want to discuss opinions and they want to go deeper into culture.”
Aside from the opportunity to practice and connect with the language, another key benefit of the club is strengthening the teacher community. According to O’Mahony, in the long run, that manifests in successful teaching and collaboration.
“Being social and close to your colleagues always creates a warm environment and connections, and the world language department, we’re very close,” O’Mahony said. “And I think doing things like this makes you closer, and then makes your collaboration better, which is ultimately what’s best for the students.”
By reading novels from all over the Spanish-speaking world, from Cuba to Uruguay, club members are able to learn about a variety of new perspectives. Spanish teacher Alisa Conner said although she currently does not teach high-level Spanish classes where she might incorporate the literature she reads in the club, she is still provided with valuable insight.
“What literature does is it gives us windows to other people’s experiences,” Conner said. “Whether Chile in the 19th century or 1980’s Spain, there’s just lots of different ways that it offers me windows and reminds me of the whole diversity of the Spanish-speaking world.”
The books the club reads also contain powerful stories. Because of this, teachers are able to truly internalize what they learn about. Méndez said he still recalls the club’s reaction 18 years ago after reading a book on the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
“After the reading and after the discussion, everyone was like ‘wow, how did people in Spain endure this 40-something-year dictatorship?’” Méndez said. “I remember that meeting was in a restaurant, so the room was very quiet. Even though it was very sad, it was very meaningful, because everyone, I think, felt connected with the situation that was described in the book, to a different level, a deeper level, a human level.”
English teacher Eric Colburn echoed the other teachers’ sentiments of gaining new, diverse viewpoints. Moreover, he said it also helps him understand how reading can be difficult.
“I definitely think that reading in Spanish has been super helpful for me as an English teacher because it’s given me a window into how much harder it is for some people to read than other people,” Colburn said. “Especially when I started reading Spanish, I was really slow. And I was like, ‘Oh, this is what it’s like.’”
With great stories, food, conversations and community, all the teachers would encourage other teachers to join the club. Conner said that what draws her to the club is the opportunity to learn from both the stories and other club members.
“It’s a great community and it’s a great way to practice Spanish,” Conner said. “There really is a range of backgrounds and comfort levels with Spanish, but it’s a great way for ourselves [to] get those windows into different aspects of the Spanish-speaking world, but then also hear from each other and all the diversity of opinions that people have.”
