Español brings Andersen south
Originally from Kansas City, Mrs. Alecia Andersen graduated from high school in 2014. and went to South Dakota State University, graduating college in the spring of 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish with a specialization in education. She got married just over a year ago in July 2018; her husband is a biology professor at FMU.
This is Andersen’s third year teaching, but her first at West Florence. She taught two years previously in a rural school in South Dakota where she taught Spanish in a K-12 school building to 7th graders and high schoolers; she taught intro to Spanish (7th grade) every 12 weeks, and Spanish 1-4 to Freshmen all the way up to Seniors.
Andersen’s goal this year is to inspire students to learn something about another culture other than their own and to be able to appreciate the differences, as well as the similarities, that we all have among us. She has so many people who have inspire her -- her Spanish teacher in 7th grade is the person who inspired her to be a Spanish teacher.
“My husband inspires me to do my best and to think critically about the world around me; and my students inspire me to be the best teacher I can be so that they can learn, not only Spanish, but how to be better people and global citizens,” she said.
All she expects from students is that they keep an open mind and that they try their hardest in class. She said enjoys teaching for the “Aha!” moments that students have when they understand a new concept that she’s taught them. She says students are all great, and unique in their own ways! She says although West Florence students are very different from what she experienced, most students at West have been very respectful and inviting.
Andersen said there are so many factors in what makes her who she is: her love of languages and her enthusiasm are the two things that she believes makes her the teacher that she is -- if students are willing to keep an open mind in order to try to learn, she will do almost anything -- including embarrassing herself -- for the sake of students’ comprehension!
“As an individual outside of teaching, however, God, my family, and my friends are the people most deserving of recognition for helping me become the person that I am,” she said.
Andersen loves teaching, but she also loves spending quality time with friends and family, baking, creating art (especially painting) and reading a good book or binge-watching a good show on Netflix next to her four month old puppy.
