Photo courtesy of Lisa Loyd
Lisa Lloyd teaches Spanish at Mountain Brook Junior High School.
Q: Tell our readers about yourself.
A: For most of my life, I grew up in Naperville, Illinois, a community near Chicago, where my journey with Spanish began. After my family relocated to Alabama, I continued my studies at Jacksonville State, the University of Alabama and Auburn’s study abroad program in Mexico. I completed AP training in Spain, and one of my favorite career highlights was leading two student tours across Spain, Italy, and France.
Q: How long have you been teaching Spanish? What encouraged you to teach Spanish?
A: I’ve been teaching Spanish for 26 years. My Spanish classes in high school were positive experiences. I became inspired to teach Spanish when I participated in a college choir tour to Mexico. Everyone was hospitable, and the culture was vibrant. I immediately knew I wanted to teach and help students feel this same connection with people and culture.
Q: What inspired you to be an educator?
A: I was inspired to be an educator through an experience with my college newspaper. I was writing for the Judson College newspaper in Elgin, Illinois, my freshman year. When I interviewed my professors for a piece about their teaching, my English professor was so passionate about her students and the discussions that can challenge thoughts and change hearts. I switched from communication to teaching and transferred to North Central College in Naperville, where there was a teaching program. I never looked back!
Q: Did you have a favorite teacher or mentor growing up?
A: My favorite teacher growing up was Mr. Pierce, my high school choir teacher. He pushed me to see my strengths and weaknesses. He was strict with his students. We wrote character analysis to learn about our musical productions. When he graded my analysis, he commented that I needed to explore and express my thoughts in meaningful ways. To this day, I love to encourage my students to reflect about their talents and how they wish to use them.
Q: How do you continue to grow in your Spanish-speaking abilities?
A: I know how important it is to continue growing and learning. To keep my Spanish speaking abilities fresh, I participate in language associations and connect with other colleagues. I also read books and watch shows in Spanish. My family and I also enjoy traveling to Spanish speaking countries.
Q: Most middle/junior high schools do not offer foreign languages. What does it mean to you to teach Spanish at this level?
A: Teaching in the junior high level means everything to me because younger students are more accepting of the learning process. They have more time to digest the culture and the language before the high school years come in with all the extra distractions. Building a base for the students is so instrumental for their early, formative years. I am so impressed with how much my students know when they come to my class as ninth graders. My colleagues are giving them a beautiful head start. High school is rough enough without throwing students the completely new and complex subject of world languages.
Q: What is something that your students may not know about you?
A: My students may not know that I loved singing and performing in shows. These experiences gave me the ability to direct three high school shows when I first started my career as an English/Spanish teacher.
Q: What do you see as next steps for yourself or for the foreign languages department at Mountain Brook Junior High?
A: My next steps as a World Language teacher are to mentor other teachers through a program with National Boards and continue connecting with other educators by serving on the board of the Alabama World Languages Association. I enjoy working with my colleagues at MBJH and look forward to creating more cultural student activities with my department. We all have stories we can bring to our students that can excite and inspire them to continue their learning process and become lifelong language learners.
