Washington High School Spanish teacher receives Teacher of Promise Award

WASHINGTON - There is perhaps no greater mark of a dedicated foreign language teacher than one who gets inexplicably excited about students understanding pronouns. When Grace Winter, a 27-year-old Spanish teacher at Washington High School, felt that rush of joy from helping a particular student in Cambodia, her journey to becoming a teacher began.

Winter's enthusiasm for teaching is part of the reason why she was recognized with the 2019 Michael Oates Teacher of Promise Award on Oct. 5, in Iowa City. The award has been given out annually by the Iowa World Language Association since 2012 and specifically acknowledges outstanding individuals in their first or second year as classroom teachers. Washington High School is Winter's first teaching job following completion of her master's program.

The Spanish teacher was nominated by Dr. Pamela Wesely, a professor from the University of Iowa, with whom Winter took several classes. In Wesely's nomination, the professor described the new teacher as a 'caring, thoughtful, diligent teacher who plans her classes carefully and carries them out well.”

Wesely also highlighted a particular project Winter worked on during her master's program at the university which included creating a children's book that focused on 'students with disabilities and how they, too, had a place in the world language classroom,” Wesely also added that she felt Winter 'is going to be a wonderful advocate for ALL language learners as she starts her career.”

To Winter, her early success and recognition is incredibly encouraging and meaningful, however, the Spanish teacher had not always intended to go into education. In fact, her college career had not been focused on preparing her to become a teacher at all. An Iowa native, Winter decided to study Spanish at the University of Kentucky and later joined the Peace Corps where she was 'thrown into teaching,” in Cambodia.

'That's when I really knew that I wanted to become a teacher. Once I started getting that experience and seeing what it was like to actually be a teacher,” Winter said. Winter was in the Asian country for 11 months and noted that at times, it was stressful and difficult but 'teaching was always the highlight” for her.

One particular experience with a Cambodian student who was struggling in differentiating between 'he” and 'she” set Winter on her path to her current position.

For the new teacher, the most gratifying part of the job is watching students grow and learn, both in her class and outside of it. Getting to witness those 'aha” moments are what fuel Winter.

'I had one student [in Cambodia] who was clearly not catching on to English as quickly as the other students were and it was always an issue with pronouns … it's not the biggest deal to me so I would just casually point it out every time and he would never get it,” Winter said.

Then one day, after Winter returned an assignment, the student hit a breakthrough.

'He brings it back up to me and continues to point out every example where he used ‘he' instead of ‘she,' and I was like ‘Yes!' I just got really excited about using the word ‘she,'” Winter added. Following her time in Cambodia, Winter returned to the U.S. and decided to return to school for teaching.

Like many foreign language teachers, Winter also enjoys the experience of being able to immerse herself in a different culture, interacting with people from a different part of the world and introducing and exposing students to that experience.

'I really enjoy explaining and introducing them to new cultures. Students can get so into their own little bubble that it can be hard for them to understand someone different from them and I feel like world language classes can be a great first step to recognizing differences in everyone and being respectful of those differences,” Winter said.

Her own love affair with the language and culture began in high school.

'I always really liked Spanish. I struggled a lot in high school keeping up with classes, not being interested in much and then not putting in the work for much and I never had that issue with Spanish,” Winter commented, explaining why she decided to study the language.

In her senior year, Winter went on a class trip to Spain that further cemented her love for Spanish culture. As an undergraduate student, Winter spent the entirety of her sophomore year in Granada, Spain, an experience that set her apart from other candidates who were applying for the Spanish teacher position at Washington High School.

Regina Schantz, who teaches second and third year Spanish at the high school and was on Winter's interview committee said the teacher's experiences abroad, 'lends to her credibility,” with students.

'She can kind of reference ‘this is the time that I messed up when speaking with someone' or ‘this time I got lost on the train.' It's a good thing to be able to fall back on and she just seems very open to trying new things. Receiving this award is a real confidence booster … I'm just real pleased that she was given that award,” Schantz added.

Schantz, a veteran teacher with 38 years under her belt, also said Winter is incredibly 'positive … and goes with the flow,” learning from her mistakes and being flexible with her teaching strategy and style.

Schantz pointed out that as a foreign language teacher, it's especially important to make students feel comfortable.

'One of the things we really try to put into place is that it's OK to make mistakes and its OK to be here,” the teacher explained and according to Washington High School Principal Eric Buchholz, connecting with students and making them feel comfortable is exactly what Winter excels in.

'She's great at building relationships with kids. She uses numerous different strategies to deliver Spanish learning to her students … I just think her openness and willingness to try new, innovative ideas and share information with students is what makes her a good teacher,” Buchholz said.

As a new and young teacher, Winter is often plagued with uncertainty about whether she is teaching in the way her students need her to teach them. For the new Spanish teacher, the greatest challenge comes from herself.

'I'm constantly wondering am I doing the right thing, am I teaching this as best that I could be and is there something I could be doing better,” Winter expressed.

Receiving the award reminds Winter of the trust, acknowledgment and faith her peers and colleagues have in her.

'To receive this award, it just means a lot to know world language professionals think that I have the qualities to be a good teacher and it's very motivational to keep growing and that yes, I can be a good language teacher,” Winter noted.