The AATSP Exams (NSE) office is committed to providing teachers with opportunities to continue their professional development. To this end, we offer stipends for teachers to attend the annual conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP).
This year, the winners of the AATSP Exams (NSE) Teacher Stipend Award are Kimberly Ponce de León and Margarita de León Viera.
Kimberly Ponce de León has been teaching Spanish for the last 31 years at Shaker Heights High School near Cleveland, Ohio where she teaches Spanish 1, 4, 5, and 6. An Ohio State University alumni, she studied abroad in Toledo, Spain before heading off to teach English in Puerto Rico for one year. She later worked in Paraguay as a Peace Corps Volunteer and traveled extensively throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. After many adventures, she returned to Ohio to start her career and raise a family.
Teacher Kimberly has been administering the National Spanish Exam (NSE) for over 10 years, which she uses to prepare AP and IB students for high-stakes tests. She also loves sharing her passion for different cultures with her students and continues to love to learn and travel. She is excited to attend the 106th Annual AATSP Conference, noting that, “Thirty years ago when I was working on my Master’s Degree, I read Professor Krashen’s Theory of Language Acquisition and Comprehensible Input. It would be amazing to attend and be able to learn even more directly from the master himself as the Keynote speaker. I am so impressed that the AATSP will be presenting such a distinguished guest as the Keynote Speaker.”
Margarita De León Viera started her career as a theater teacher in her hometown in Puerto Rico before relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada to teach Spanish to Spanish speakers and as a second language, from Spanish 1 through AP Literature & Culture, at Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts, where she also led the Organization of Latinos. Currently, she teaches Spanish 1, Spanish 3 Honors, and AP Language & Culture at West Career & Technical Academy, where she leads Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (SHH), El Coqui Chapter, and is also in charge of the National Hispanic Institute chapter at her school. She was also recognized as Nevada’s World Language Teacher of the Year in 2023.
Teacher Margarita comes from a family of Puerto Rican educators and her greatest inspiration is her mother, who is a retired teacher and principal. This will be her first time attending an AATSP conference.
The 106th Annual AATSP Conference will be taking place in Portland, Oregon in the Summer. AATSP Exams (NSE) is proud to have such accomplished teachers onboard.
¡Todos a una! Todos por um!
