Biography

The Basics About Me

 

Hola!  Yo soy Amy Aldrete, Spanish teacher for levels 2 and 4-5 Standard at HPHS, 2024-2025.  I'm excited to join the Scot's community!  I have been married since 2000 to my best friend, Horacio Aldrete, a native of San Luis Potosi, Mexico who is a financial analyst at Standard and Poor's.  Together we have raised three children: Annalisa, Isabel and Stuart, who are enrolled or recent graduates of UT Austin and the University of New Mexico.  My hobbies are dancing, yoga, cycling, and travel.  As a recent empty-nester, Horacio and I keep ourselves occupied with two doberman pups named Rosie and Cher.  

 

 

My Teaching Philosophy

 

Although I grew up in a Spanish speaking community in Albuquerque, NM, I wasn't able to fully understand Spanish until I started taking classes in the 9th grade.  In high school we practiced reading, writing and grammar, but there were still not enough opportunities to practice speaking.  Because of this, I wasn't fully fluent until I went on an exchange program to Monterrey, Mexico and was able to immerse myself in the language and culture.  These experiences are at the root of  my teaching philosophy, which is: its important to know how the language works, but its even more important to use the language.  Its simple, just like hitting a golf ball or playing the piano, you can study the theory and techniques all you desire, but until you actually hit the ball or touch a keyboard, you really don't know anything.  For this reason, students in my classroom will learn about the language by using the language.

My Professional and Educational Background

 

Upon graduating from high school in Albuquerque, NM, I spent a year abroad as a Rotary Exchange Student in Denmark.  While there, I played the viola with a renowned teacher and wrote reviews for the local newspaper (in English) about ballet performances.  I also attended "gymansium" (high school) and Danish citizenship classes with people from all over the world who were seeking refugee status in Denmark.  This experience drove my interest in international relations. 

 

I received my Bachelor of Arts from New Mexico State University with a double major in Spanish Linguistics and Government, and a Supplemental Major in Latin American Studies.  After a brief internship at a think tank in Washington DC on K Ave., I decided to pursue a Master of Public Affairs with a concentration in international development and Latin America.  I met my husband there, at UT Austin's LBJ School of Public Affairs.  While working on the Master's I was able to work on exciting policy projects in the area of binational environmental research, rural development programs directed towards women in Mexico, and international orphans on the US-Mexico border.

 

In the year 2000, my husband and I moved to Mexico City where he rated local bonds for a burgeoning public ratings market in Mexico and I worked at the US Embassy in the office of the US Environmental Protection Agency, while also teaching a class at the Universidad Iberoamericana.  My experiences at the US Embassy taught me that linguistic fluency is not sufficient for one to achieve success in international relations, indeed, one must be able to deeply understand the cultural contexts embedded in our communicative acts.  This is one of the main reasons I left my career in international relations, and decided to enter the world of education.  I believe the world needs language teachers who see themselves as communication teachers.

 

My career in education started as a preschool Spanish teacher at St. Mark's Catholic School in Plano, then as the Director of Spanish Schoolhouse in Richardson, followed by an elementary and high school Spanish teacher at Lucas Christian Academy.  I've spent the last 9 years at St. Patrick Catholic School (SPS) where I earned my Texas Teaching Certificate, and taught first as a 5th grade Science and English teacher and then as the 6th - 8th grade Spanish teacher. 

 

While at SPS I won the Diocesan Teacher of the Year award in 2018 and also worked with a small team to re-write the Diocesan curriculum for elementary foreign language instruction. I also spearheaded the development of a cross-curricular service learning program where students could use what they were learning in school for the greater good of the community.  During this year-long project, thousands of dollars were raised for water filters in Guatemala, while students also learned about all aspects of clean water insecurity in every one of their subject area classes.  The project was such a success that I  conducted a workshop about it at the international conference for language teachers (ACTFL) in 2019.

 

I recently completed my second Masters degree in the Teaching of Spanish from Texas A&M University-Commerce.  This opened the doors for me to become a textbook reviewer for Open Educational Resources that are posted on the University of Texas at Austin's website "Center for Open Education and Language Learning." I have also give speeches at international language conferences hosted by universities such as Harvard regarding my research into the pedagogies evident in Open Educational Resources for Heritage and Foreign Language Learners.

 

As a new member of the Scots community I am very excited to join your exceptional team of educators, students, and families!  I love your motto: "Enter to learn, go forth to serve" as I feel it resonates so deeply with the way I've raised my own children, and the values that inspired me throughout my professional careers, first in international relations and then education.  I look forward to having a positive impact on all my Highland Park students for many years to come.