By Taylor Stranding— Correspondent

After the leave of Señor Burka, the SHS community is welcoming a new one-year Spanish teacher, Señora De Los Ríos.

De Los Ríos was born and grew up in Colombia. She worked there as an attorney, and taught international law at the same law school that she graduated from before moving here 11 years ago. 

De Los Rios says that America has a great mix of people and that moving here has allowed her to become part of this significant blend. “I saw there is a large Latino community in this country, and there is also a large non-spanish speaking population that wants to learn the language and the culture. I wanted to teach my language and my culture and get to know other people from other countries, like Americans, Indians, and people who really want to know more about us,” De Los Rios said. 

“I came here to share my experiences, my culture, and my language with this vast variety of people,” she added.

Being a Spanish teacher allows De Los Rios to connect with the people who really want to know about her. She can share her culture with the community. She says she can now associate with the many other Latinos across this diverse country. “I will create the opportunity for others to learn about my roots,” she said. 

De Los Rios currently resides in Westwood, but she has become familiar with Sharon. She is friendly with people who live here and has experienced some of Sharon’s most popular landmarks. “I always come around this area. I know people that live here, I go to the farm [Wards Berry Farm] every single year during the summer” she said.

 “I always enjoy going to the lake [Lake Massapoag],” she added. 

Sharon was particularly striking to her because of its love of languages. “Sharon offers an assortment of languages, those of which begin at the Elementary level,” she said.

De Los Rios went on to say how she loves the emphasis that Sharon puts on language as we provide great opportunities to immerse students from the youngest age possible.

She says that she wants to build bonds with all her students during her time in Sharon. “My hopes are that I can connect with my students, and my community and we can really enjoy Spanish,” said De Los Rios. De Los Rios will surely brighten up the halls this year at SHS and bring her passion for her language to teach others.