Meet Mrs. Vournous, Mrs. Laurenza, and Mrs. Townley – Our three Spanish teachers here at NCHS. read below and get to know them!

1. How many years have you been teaching? How many of those were at New Castle?

• Mrs. Vournous: 2022-2023 marks my 11th year in the teaching profession. I started teaching at Farrell High School and was there for one year before coming here. This is my 10th year at NecaHi
• Mrs. Laurenza: This is my 19th year teaching at New Castle.  I have never taught anywhere else but here!
• Mrs. Townley: This is my 19th year teaching.  I have spent all 19 years here at New Castle High School.

2. Where did you go to college, and what did you major in?

• Mrs. Vournous: I went to Slippery Rock University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education-Spanish k-12
• Mrs. Laurenza: I went to Clarion University, and I majored in Spanish Education
• Mrs. Townley:  I graduated from Westminster College.  My major was Spanish, and my minor was Secondary Education.

3. Did you always want to be a teacher? If yes, how did you know, and if no, what made you change your mind?

• Mrs. Vournous: I fell in love with the Spanish language when I started taking Spanish in my 9th-grade year because of my amazing Spanish teachers. From day 1 of high school, I knew I wanted to be ble to speak Spanish and do something with a major in Spanish in college. So when I got to college I was double majoring in Spanish and Dance. I knew I didn’t want to waste time in college and I knew I needed to figure it out, so I began thinking of options. I let go of my other passion, dance and decided I was going to focus on just Spanish and become a Spanish teacher. I thought about how my Spanish teachers and how had impacted me and I wanted to be able to do the same to my students one day.
• Mrs. Laurenza: Yes.  I always wanted to be a teacher.  I initially wanted to be able to teach both high school and elementary, but I eventually decided that high school was the only way to go for me.
• Mrs. Townley: I have wanted to be a Spanish teacher since taking Spanish in high school.  I had two excellent Spanish teachers in high school.  They gave me an excellent foundation in the Spanish language, while also making it fun and interesting to learn.  I knew I wanted to be just like them when I grew up.

4. What is your favorite part about being a teacher?

• Mrs. Vournous: Building relationships with my students and seeing them grow and learn.
• Mrs. Laurenza: The students are my favorite part of teaching.  It is an extremely rewarding experience to realize that you have played a role in the lives of your students.
• Mrs. Townley: My favorite part about being a teacher is seeing my students actually able to speak in Spanish.  Speaking in a foreign language is difficult to do.  I am very proud of my students when I hear them in class or in the hallway speaking Spanish.

5. What is your least favorite part about being a teacher?

• Mrs. Vournous: Cellphones in the classroom!!!!!!!!
• Mrs. Laurenza: My least favorite part of teaching is accepting that not all students share my love for Spanish.  When most college students are preparing to become teachers, they often have the misconception that every student will love them and their class.  However, that is not always an accurate representation of the real world of teaching.  It is my personal challenge to share my love of Spanish with each and every one of my students.
• Mrs. Townley: My least favorite part about being a teacher is having to use a computer so much throughout the day.

6. What do you love most about Spanish?

• Mrs. Vournous: There is so much I love about the culture, but my favorite is all of the different types of dancing and music.
• Mrs. Laurenza: I love grammar in both Spanish and English, and I love comparing the grammatical structures of both languages.  It’s like a puzzle to me!  I really enjoy putting it all together to be able to communicate with Spanish speakers.
• Mrs. Townley: My favorite part about Spanish is teaching grammar.

7. Why do you think it’s important for someone to learn Spanish or any foreign language?

• Mrs. Vournous: I think it is important for someone to learn Spanish because it is a beautiful language and the number of Spanish speakers is growing at such a rapid rate all over the country. I think it is important to learn a second language in general because being bilingual is beneficial in so many ways.
• Mrs. Laurenza: Learning a language is important for many reasons.  On a personal level, learning a new language creates a sense of self-fulfillment and achievement.  It is also a great experience to learn about different cultures.   Most importantly, learning a language provides a way to communicate with many other people.
• Mrs. Townley: It is so important for people to learn Spanish because you can use it in real-world situations.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been on vacation and have needed to use my Spanish, even in the United States.  Millions of people in the world speak Spanish, so it only makes sense to study and learn to speak it.

8. Did you take Spanish classes in high school?

• Mrs. Vournous: Yes. I took 3 full years and my 4th year was an independent study. I went to a very small Catholic high school and we did not have as many opportunities for higher levels in languages.
• Mrs. Laurenza: Yes.  I began taking Spanish in 9th grade.  I remember being intrigued by the process involved in learning a completely new language.  I also realized what a challenge it would be for the teacher.  It was at that moment that I knew that I was up for the challenge.
• Mrs. Townley: My high school offered four years of Spanish, so I took it all four years.

9. What are your goals this upcoming year?

• Mrs. Vournous: My #1 goal for this year is to ensure I do everything in my power to make my students comfortable so that they may be able to learn as much as possible and also that they have fun.
• Mrs. Laurenza: My main goal is to share my love of Spanish with as many students as possible so that they may experience a love of language for themselves.
• Mrs. Townley: I am hoping to start up again field trips for the Spanish classes. Before COVID, we had always gone in the springtime to Mallorca’s restaurant, which is an authentic Spanish restaurant in Pittsburgh.  I would really like to start up this tradition again.

10. What are you looking forward to most for this school year?

• Mrs. Vournous: What I am most excited about this year is getting to know my students and learning about each and every one of them.
• Mrs. Laurenza: I am hoping that we can plan some field trips so that students can apply their knowledge of language and culture outside of the classroom.
• Mrs. Townley: I am looking forward to getting to know better all of my new students.

Thanks for reading, Canes!