Diamond Harvesters: Carrie Hartges and the Transformational Role of Teaching Spanish

Welcome back to another episode of the Hornet Hive! I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, and today we have a special guest joining us. Get ready to be inspired as we introduce you to Carrie Hartges, an incredible teacher who has been making a difference in the Williamson Community School District for the past 14 years. Carrie's passion for teaching elementary Spanish has not only opened doors for her students but has also left a lasting impact on their lives. Join us as we dive into Carrie's journey, learn about her love for the Spanish language, and hear firsthand accounts of the incredible experiences she has created for her students. Stay tuned for an insightful conversation that will warm your heart and inspire you to make a difference in the lives of young learners. 

 

Transcript

Christopher Lewis:

Welcome back to the Hornet Hive. I'm your host, Dr. Christopher Lewis, one of the members of the Williamson Community School Board of Education. Really excited to have you back again this week. Every week, I love being able to talk about the amazing things that are happening within our school district because there are amazing things happening in our school district. We have amazing schools, amazing staff, and I love being able to not only represent our community on the school board, but also be able to introduce you to the amazing people and the amazing things that are happening within our schools, that are making our schools that amazing place for our students. Today we've got another great guest. Over the last year, I've been introducing you to staff and we have another great staff member with us today, another great teacher with us today. Senorta Hartis is with us today. And Carrie's been with the district for quite a few years. She is teaching elementary Spanish to our kids and working with all of our kids at the elementary level, but we'll be talking more about that. But I'm really excited to have her here. Carrie, thanks so much for being here today.

Carrie Hartges:

Well, Dr. Lewis, thank you so much for inviting me to come on the show today and to introduce myself to the parents. The children know who I am, but what a privilege to be here today. Thank you.

Christopher Lewis:

It is my pleasure having you here today. Love being able to let people get to know who you are. What I'd love to do is turn the clock back in time because you've been with the district for a number of years now. What initially brought you to Williamston?

Carrie Hartges:

Well, I have been this is the start of my 14th year with Williamson Community Schools. And what happened was in 2008 nine, I was asked to teach in Dansville and I taught Spanish, and I was an interim Spanish teacher in elementary, and I loved it. And so I thought I would like to do that. And then I noticed that Williamston was hiring a position for elementary Spanish, and I got very excited, and so I applied for the job. And as they say, the rest is history. Here I am now. It's the start of my 14th year for Williamston Community Schools.

Christopher Lewis:

So tell me about your interest in Spanish. What was it about Spanish? What was it about the teaching of Spanish that drew you in and made you want to teach elementary Spanish?

Carrie Hartges:

I started taking Spanish when I was in 8th grade, and then I took Spanish all through high school. And then my minor was in Spanish, but my major was elementary education. And I first started out to teach secondary and went away to a camp with third and fourth graders. And I loved the kids, and I thought, well, I guess I'll be an elementary teacher. And so I taught elementary for five years. I taught fourth grade and then ended up being home, being a stay at home mom for a while. And then I always taught Spanish, even while I was at home, because I would teach to people that had an interest for their children to acquire a second language. And it just fell into my lap when it came to the Dansville position. One of my former students that I taught fourth grade knew that there was an opening, and she contacted me, and so I ended up teaching there. And I thought, no, I really love teaching elementary Spanish. So that's what ended up happening where I got the job teaching for Williamston. And I love doing what I do. I love opening up the door for children with a foreign language and giving them the opportunity to meet people or do things that they have never done before by doing Spanish.

Christopher Lewis:

Now, you said you've been with the district now for 14 years. That's a long time. And as you look back at those 14 years, there's things that are positives, there's things that are negatives, there's the ups, the downs, and in betweens. When you're a teacher, what would you say has sustained you over the years in the district? And what makes Williamson a great place to work?

Carrie Hartges:

Seven years ago, we implemented steam into our program, and Spanish was put on hold so that we could bring in science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, and get children ready for the 21st century. And it was during that time that I moved into a different position, which I loved. I love those kids now that they're in fourth and fifth grade. I had them when they were in young fives. But when it comes to Spanish, it is such my passion with the children and what makes it a great place. I had the opportunity at that time when I was changing positions, do I really want to teach Spanish? Or I stayed in the community because it had gotten to the point where I love our staff and I love our children. And so I thought, okay, I will teach Young fives. And it ended up where Spanish was brought back, and I am thrilled. And I love who we teach with those little people all day long. I love that. And I remember once somebody said, in no field of activity can a man or a woman leave such a lasting monument as when he or she seeks to impress on the mind of a child. And I feel like we as teachers are diamond harvesters. We see these little people that come in and you look for where their gifts and their talents are. And I tell them, I said, if all things are equal, they have great grades, wonderful personality, but they get out into the real world and somebody speaks Spanish and somebody does not. That person that has Spanish, they have a leg up. And I have seen it. I've seen it in the field of nursing. One of my students, she's now a nurse, and she uses her Spanish to communicate with those little people that she has to deal with. I've seen it with another one of my students where she worked for a father's company, but she just happened to be out at a garage sale and a man wanted something. And her father said to her, Sweetheart, you know what he's saying? Find out what he wants. And it was something that he wanted at the garage sale, but he had forgotten his wallet at home. And so as a result, she was able to understand and communicate for him. And he told his daughter you were doing more Spanish. So it opens up doors that otherwise would have remained shut. So I like that. I like being that diamond harvester and looking at our children's gifts and talents and encouraging them towards their future. Vocations now, I know over the last.

Christopher Lewis:

Year or so you started a Spanish club as well to engage kids at a little bit different level. Tell us about the Spanish club that you started.

Carrie Hartges:

Well, there would be times when I would be teaching my students, and I'd think, oh, we're working on food and how to order food in a restaurant. And I thought, that's what I want. I want to be able to have these kids go out and give them a real life experience and order food in a restaurant. So that's what we did. I had one of my kids come back. He had gone to the Dominican Republic over spring break, and he was so excited. He stopped me and he said, Senora, I got down there to the Dominican Republic and I had to order all my food in Spanish. They didn't speak English. And he said, at one point, my mom turned to me and she said, you know that much Spanish, but that's exactly what we had been working on for real life experience. And it was so sweet because the little sister, she came and she said the same thing. She said, I ordered my food in Spanish. And I said, how did you order? And she said, Eggusta RIA, which means I would like and I said, who taught you that? She said, my big brother And I said, well, who taught him that? And she said you did. So it was just neat for them to have that real life experience where they transferred it over into the real world. And I asked him, I said, what was it like? He said, Senora, he said, It was like being in that restaurant and having my training wheels on. And I took those training wheels off and I was riding all around that restaurant and I just thought that that was so sweet that it gave him a real life experience. And so that's what I wanted for our students with doing Spanish club. And it was very sweet watching our kids go to the restaurant and order in Spanish. And one of the waiters asked a mom, would you like flour or would you like corn for your tortilla arena omais? And the kids knew exactly what that waiter was asking. And the little fella turned to his mom and he said, you want corn flour for your tortilla? And it was just so sweet to see them know what they were doing and be able to apply it and get themselves fed. So it was real life, practical experience.

Christopher Lewis:

Love that and love the practicality of it. That's part of the as we've seen in this whole steam curriculum, it's taking that learning, making it real, allowing for kids to be able to really take their learning to the next level. And our specials at the elementary level definitely get students doing that. The clubs beyond that allow students to delve even deeper. So students that are in our elementaries do have that opportunity to look at clubs like the Spanish club or the art club or the music club that are at the elementary level because there are some great opportunities there. To be able to delve a little bit deeper and have a little bit more time with our teachers like Senora Harchis that they don't get on a regular weekly basis. So it's a great opportunity to be able to do that. Now, Senora, you just talked about a great story, and teachers are storytellers. There's lots of stories, lots of things that take you from day to day and allow for you to be able to really sustain you. We talked about being sustained in your career. Can you share a story with me that, for you really epitomizes the experience that you've had as a Williamson staff member?

Carrie Hartges:

Our foundation that we say with our students is kind, safe, cooperative, and respectful. And yes, I teach Spanish, but we are teaching children to be responsible people, to be kind people as they leave us in their future vocation. And sometimes I see some of the stuff that goes on with our kids, and I'll give you one story. We'll play a game in my class, and when they do something awesome, kind, safe, cooperative, respectful, they get what's called a free pass. A passe libre. So when we're playing a game, it's like a free card that gives them an extra lifeline in the game. You know what I love about our kids? I've had this happen several times where somebody will find a pass that somebody else has dropped, and they'll come to me and they'll say, I found this. So they're being little people of integrity. And I love that, that we get the opportunity to pour into them not only steam or music or art or math, but we get to have our fingerprints to encourage them to be awesome little people. So that person of integrity. I have called parents home and I said, I just want to let you know that your son, your daughter was a person of integrity today. And I love our kids at our school, we have some kind kids with the way that they treat one another. And I like to foster that atmosphere in my classroom where we're encouraging them in the future on what types of people that we want to see later on in life. Those kind people.

Christopher Lewis:

Well Senora Hartges, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all that you're doing. To be able to engage our kids, to be able to push them to see the world beyond our small hamlet of Williamston, to be able to start to think about the world beyond Williamston and be able to speak to others beyond Williamston and to start that journey in language that starts early but can definitely push them so far into the future. And I wish you all the best.

Carrie Hartges:

I appreciate you know, someone once said, when you're choosing your vocation in life, it's where the greatest joy meets the world's greatest need. And when you find that, you'll never work a day in your life. And I love doing what I do. The district has invested in me with arts integration, and it's wonderful integrating the arts into the classroom and reaching those students that learn in different ways and engaging them. And it is such a privilege for me to be a teacher within our district. I love our district. I love our staff, and our kids are great people to be around. So thank you for inviting me to come on today.