Marta Fuertes teaches Spanish.

What previous teaching jobs have you had?

I taught here last year, part time, but before that, I was at Cambridge Rindge and Latin and I was at Medford High School. Those were my first jobs in the United States. I also taught in England.

How do you find teaching styles here in the U.S. compared to England?

In England, I never taught in high school. I taught at a lower education level. I also taught at a lower education level here in Brookline, so in a way I guess you have more freedom, because basically you can do whatever you want. While teaching a curriculum in a high school, you are tied to certain structures that you have to teach. I taught in high school in Spain, and probably the difference is that the teachers here tend to follow the kids more closely. In Spain, we tend to leave the kids to be on their own, working on their own, from a younger age. Here we give them more tips and more graphic organizers and things like that.

What brought you to Brookline High School?

When there was a vacancy here, I applied and I was very interested because I had always heard from different sources that it was a good department.

What are your thoughts on the school thus far?

I love the openness of the whole open campus, and everyone’s very receptive to everybody’s different opinions, and everybody can express themselves. I think [the] environment is very great for a learning experience, and for a teaching experience too it’s very beneficial. Brookline has made the effort to give opportunities and a lot of options to students, and it is a huge help in making the education very strong.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Spain, in not a very big town.

Why did you decide to become a teacher?

Sometimes I joke if I decide to become a teacher or if becoming a teacher decided me, because it was more circumstantial. It was not the career I chose at the very beginning of my life, but I ended up being here and loving it. It’s not that it was a very premature decision from an early stage in my life that I wanted to be a teacher. It came out naturally that I like to teach and I like the interaction with other people and I like using my own language to communicate with other people, and to teach my culture to other people who probably don’t know a lot about it or want to know more about it. It was not  my original plan in my life, but it is what I love to do and I welcome it and I’m very happy to be here.

Do you have any interesting talents or hobbies?

I have hobbies that I love. My first hobby is traveling, but that can’t always be done. Apart from that I love photography, occasionally I get a good shot. I enjoy reading, but it’s time constricting, which is an issue. Music as well and I like cooking.

What are some of your favorite dishes to cook?

I like to eat more than cook, so I can tell you what I like to eat. I love Asian food, I don’t know what it is, but I cannot get enough of that. It’s probably because it’s so different than the gastronomy of my own country, so I never get tired of that, and Mexican, Latin American food that is very different from Spanish food. I probably tend to like the foods that I have not been as exposed to. I try everything.

Steven Bushey and Vanessa Chin can be contacted at [email protected].