TEC Student of the Month Award

Full of curiosity and enthusiasm, Nichelle has been consistently dedicated to her Spanish studies at Tierra since starting to take classes four years ago. With a passion for social justice, she is motivated to perfect her Spanish skills by her advocacy work and her desire to be able to communicate with people she serves in their native language. A kind and supportive classmate with genuine interest in everyone around her, Nichelle’s joyful energy has a positive impact on any class she joins. Always seeking to deepen her understanding and find patterns in the language, her probing questions often elicit answers that benefit the whole class and reveal fresh nuances of Spanish structure. We feel proud that the language education we provide at Tierra has a positive effect on the lives of the local Spanish speaking community through students like Nichelle who provide vital services to these communities, and we look forward to continuing to see her reach the stars on her path toward fluency.

Matthew, who his Spanish classmates know as Mateo, started his studies at Tierra back in the before times, Winter 2020, at the Beginner 1 level. After his first two courses, the pandemic hit and he shifted online with us, where he continued to take a class each term. Incredibly dedicated to his studies, he moved up through our curriculum and has achieved a solidly high intermediate level. A social worker who works in hospice care, his main motivation to learn Spanish is to be able to communicate with his patients and their families in Spanish, as they navigate those challenging circumstances. Full of enthusiasm and love of learning, Matthew eagerly participates in class and is a truly caring classmate who helps build a positive classroom environment. We are honored to count Matthew among our amazing student community at Tierra and look forward to continuing to see him polish his skills and put them to very important use in the Spanish-speaking community.

Full of enthusiasm for learning Spanish and authentic curiosity about Spanish speaking cultures as well as the deeper implications of learning a foreign language, Archer brings great energy to any Spanish class he takes. A dedicated student who has enrolled in a class at Tierra each term since beginning his studies in Spring 2021, he’s taken great strides, leaping from a low intermediate level up to advanced courses. With a great sense of humor and natural abundance of empathy, he’s a sensitive classmate who helps make the classroom a fun and comfortable environment for everyone. We are honored to count Archer as part of our wonderful student community and look forward to continuing to watch him mine the depths for nuance as he polishes his impressive Spanish skills!