We’d like to give a Shout-Out to Kimberly Tangaro, winner of the 2024 NSE & Pulsera Project Teacher Travel Scholarship to Guatemala!
Kimberly is a high school Spanish teacher at Mililani High School in Hawaii, where she is also known as “Profe T” by her students. She has been teaching Spanish for over 10 years and has been administering the National Spanish Exam (NSE) for over 2 years. Kimberly utilizes novels in the classroom to complete projects and cultural activities with her students and colleagues, maintaining that “novels give us context and a reason to use the Spanish language in authentic ways as well as the opportunity to make comparisons between our lives and the characters we read about from other cultures and perspectives.”
Kehaulani White, Department Head of Spanish at Mililani High School, shared with us that “The students, counseling and administrative staff view “Profe T” as a very approachable and caring teacher who will often give up her lunches, recesses and afterschool time to help them if needed. Mrs. Kimberly Tangaro is very supportive of her students and is always teaching with their hearts, well-being, and academic progress in mind. “Profe T” has been very appreciated for her teaching style, one that resonates well with faculty and students alike. Her instructional methods place importance on strategizing the constant use of CONTEXT via authentic and engaging real world articles, stories and film.”
AATSP Exams (NSE) offers awards for teachers who are AATSP members and administer one of our exams. This Summer, Kimberly will have the chance to travel to Guatemala to learn about its culture and deepen her experience in the teaching of Spanish in the classroom.
This trip will also have deeper meaning to Kimberly’s career as a teacher due to her involvement with a children’s book project at Mililani High School that flourished into a connection with The Pulsera Project. She explained that “This trip is very meaningful because the upper level Spanish students (Levels 3, 4, and AP) [at Mililani High School] will write children’s books that we will send to a school in Guatemala via Chris who represents the Pulsera Project. I learned about the children’s book project from a presenter at the June 2023 AATSP Conference in Salamanca, Spain. Over the course of the week, I happened to stop at the Pulsera Project booth where I met Jillian. As I spoke with Jillian about the Pulsera Project and the children’s book project, she not only encouraged my idea but supported it by explaining how selling pulseras could be a fundraiser for our school to raise the money to laminate and bind the children’s books and that one of their schools could possibly be a connection for our school where we could ship the books.
Little by little the partnership has been growing between Mililani High School and the Pulsera Project. It would be a dream come true for me to see and meet the students and teacher(s) in Guatemala who receive our children’s books should that be possible through this July 2024 trip. The heart of Mililani High School’s Spanish department is to make and sustain positive relationships between our school and students with schools and students of the Spanish-speaking world. Thank you for considering me and my school and community who I represent for this amazing teacher travel opportunity! ¡Todos a una!”
Mahalo, Profe T, for everything you do for your school and your students!
¡Todos a una! Todos por um!
