I am delighted to have you in my Spanish class here at Jackson High School. I am looking forward to working with you this year. You are enrolled in a class that comes with high expectations, and I will provide great support for you to have a successful school year.  Every day we will spend time perfecting the four skills which are necessary for learning a foreign language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Since learning a foreign language is a relatively new skill for you, you should expect to work hard in this class; you should be prepared to study on your own and complete the daily work. We will follow a pace as specified in our curriculum guide. Such pacing requires that every student keeps up with the daily classwork and interactive notebooks, participates in class every day, and learns the vocabulary and grammar each night to prepare for the next day’s class. Since the material we study is cumulative, do not let yourself get behind!

Look at the syllabus to see the grading categories and the importance of doing your work.  Due to the formative nature of the work, it will be graded on completion and used as the basis for discussion and review the following day. This year, I look forward to helping all of my students develop their Spanish communication skills and enjoy exploring the Spanish-speaking world.

My goal as a native speaker is for my students to use Spanish to become active participants in the global community by appreciating cultural diversity and the language. You will learn to communicate in Spanish through listening, speaking, reading, and writing while broadening your awareness of the world and Latin culture.

This year, I plan to sponsor the Multilingual Ambassador Service at JHS. I am very honored to belong to the Equity & Access Superintendent Advisory Council for six years and to be part of the Dual Language Advisory Board.

A little bit about me:

I am a native Spanish Speaker. This is my eighth year of teaching in Everett Public Schools and my 25th year as a teacher. My bachelor's degree is in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, and my Master’s degree from the University of Alabama is in Secondary Education/ Spanish. I also have a Montessori certificate. I am a WA State Certified Interpreter and an ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviewer.

I have absolutely enjoyed teaching Spanish during the past years at UMS-Wright Preparatory Private School in Mobile, Alabama, in Everett at Archbishop Murphy High School, and before working for EPS in Bellevue School District, where I taught at high school level: Spanish Bilingual 1, Spanish Bilingual 2, AP, and IB classes. 

My interests include reading and traveling to Spain. I love to spend time with my husband, our sons and daughters, our grandchildren, and our dogs.

I look forward to you all having a year full of learning, growth, and development. I am sure this will be a great year full of fantastic learning experiences.

Jessica De Yngunza