Beeeeep! “¿Están listos?” The ninth period bell rings and Ms. McCoy directs the attention of her Spanish III sophomores to the start of the class.
Ms. McCoy is the new Spanish teacher at Hampton Bays High School. Last year she worked as a teaching assistant for a few months in a Spanish classroom gaining teaching experience. This is Ms. McCoy’s first year being a full-time teacher.
Ms. McCoy had always planned on becoming a Spanish teacher. Despite not having Hispanic roots, Ms. McCoy’s interest in the Spanish language began when her grandparents had different families staying with them. One family on particular was from Cuba and stayed with Ms. McCoys grandparents for a few months. She interacted and learned Spanish through the Cuban family and began her spark for Spanish. “That’s honestly what sparked my interest, seeing everyone’s different stories from all over the world,” she added.
Before landing the position as a Spanish teacher, Ms. McCoy studied four years at SUNY Oneonta majoring in adolescent education in Spanish. During her junior year at Oneonta she studied abroad at the University of Salamanca located in Spain. “I still technically was an Oneonta student but it was a program overseas.” Ms. McCoy always had the goal of spending time abroad when she went to college. “I was an anxious person growing up and although it was something I’ve always wanted to do, I didn’t think I’d go through with it and do it.”
Ms. McCoy is inspired by languages and wants to see how languages evolve. “Language shapes a lot: your culture and identity.” Throughout Hispanic Heritage Month Ms. McCoy has been sharing a fact a day about different Spanish-speaking countries. A fact she mentioned was, “Even though in Spanish-speaking countries their official language is Spanish, people speak up to 370 different languages throughout Latin America.” Ms. McCoy’s Spanish II students worked on a project for Hispanic Heritage Month titled “¿Quién es mi Latino famoso?” in which they were asked to choose someone who made a positive impact in the LatinX and Hispanic community.
When Ms. McCoy isn’t in a classroom teaching her students how to conjugate verbs, she spends her free time with her family and her two puppies at the dog park. Not only that, when she’s feeling adventurous, “I like to go on walks and hike too.” Ms. McCoy also enjoys reading and recently finished a book called “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” by Erika Sánchez.
Ms. McCoy is looking forward to future school events like spirit week, volunteering with the students, and seeing her students thrive.
