Patricia Summers

I was a high school teacher of Spanish, French and Italian for 35 years, as well as an interpreter at John. F. Kennedy airport for five years.

In my classroom I emphasized communication skills and cultural connections. I also encouraged students to use as much of the target language as possible outside of the classroom with ESL students, siblings, pen pals, etc.

I have won numerous awards for curriculum writing and development. I also have presented at several professional workshops.

After earning a Master's Degree in Spanish Literature, I spent nine summers doing graduate work in Europe (Florence, Italy; Salamanca, Spain; La Rochelle, France) and I was appointed principal of a summer immersion program in Florence, Italy.

Over the years I have traveled with hundreds of students throughout Europe and this gave me an insight into their interests and needs. I used that info to tweak my lessons and materials so that every student could learn and feel connected to the target language.