Sharing her passion
DeBaun takes students deep into Spanish culture
-Submitted photo <br> Leah DeBaun, Spanish teacher at Southeast Valley High School, sits in front of a landscape shot of the city of Toledo in Spain during a recent trip there. DeBaun will lead a group of Southeast Valley students to the country next summer.
-Submitted photo <br> Leah DeBaun poses with a statue of Jose Cubero Yiyo, a famous matador who was killed at 21 years old, in Madrid outside the bullring of sales.
-Submitted photo <br> Leah DeBaun, Spanish teacher at Southeast Valley High School, sits in front of a landscape shot of the city of Toledo in Spain during a recent trip there. DeBaun will lead a group of Southeast Valley students to the country next summer.
-Submitted photo <br> Leah DeBaun poses with a statue of Jose Cubero Yiyo, a famous matador who was killed at 21 years old, in Madrid outside the bullring of sales.
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Leah DeBaun never planned on being a Spanish teacher.
That all changed within her first semester at Dordt College.
DeBaun is currently in her 10th year teaching overall, and second at Southeast Valley High School. She teaches all four levels of the language.
"I went to college undecided, but after taking Spanish and being a part of the international club, I fell in love with the language, the culture and the people," DeBaun said. "I went the route of education, and haven't regretted it once. I love teaching Spanish, and I feel very confident in my methods and strategies.
"Nothing makes me happier than to share my passion for this language and all the cultures and people it represents."
That devotion has led DeBaun to take students on several trips to foreign countries and gain better insights into the language they are studying.
Recently, DeBaun visited Costa Rica on a training trip to prepare herself for an upcoming excursion with her students next summer.
"The trip qualified me to be a leader on my own trips like the one coming up in July and August," DeBaun said. "The Costa Rica trip is an eight-day trip where students will experience the language and culture, as well as fun activities such as white-water rafting and zip lining. They will spend a day in a school seeing how the education system there works, and they will also plant a tree in a reserve as they learn about deforestation.
"Taking these trips with students is one of the best parts of my job, seeing them experience everything first hand."
DeBaun has taken three previous trips to Nicaragua, bringing students to a land she was familiar with. Government issues, though, forced her to find a new spot to travel.
"I was able to lead those trips without the benefits of a company, because I lived in Nicaragua and had connections there," she said. "Unfortunately, Nicaragua's government has become oppressive and unstable, so I can no longer take students there with confidence. That is why this year I had to find a company to go through for my trip to a different country.
"In addition to student trips, I lead adult trips on my own. A small group of adults travel with me (about six to eight) and we pick a country. I plan everything, we pick our activities and we go. The first two times we went to Nicaragua, and this past summer we went to Peru and Bolivia. That trip is for whoever likes to travel and wants to join me on my adventures."
There were options for DeBaun to take for her recent trip, but Spain won out for several reasons.
"It was the Spanish-speaking option, and I thought it would be more beneficial to me to get the training in a Spanish-speaking country," DeBaun said. "I had never been to Spain either, so it was very intriguing for me. The best part of the trip was going to Toledo and learning about medieval Spain.
"The main benefits I was able to get from the trip and the training was how to best lead a trip, especially with this company and how they do things. I was also able to connect with many other teachers (mostly Spanish teachers) and share ideas and strategies not only for trips, but also for teaching Spanish.
"In addition, I was immersed in 'Spain' Spanish, which is very different from the 'Nicaraguan' Spanish that I know well. The accent was very interesting; it's the Spanish that many Spanish teachers have taught in the past. That is now changing, but it is still very beneficial to know more about Spanish from Spain and explain it to students."
Along with her work at Southeast Valley, DeBaun has also taught Spanish at St. Edmond and English as a second language in Nicaragua.
"I am constantly encouraged by my students and their use of the language," she said. "They surprise me with their desire to know Spanish, and they love to play around with Spanish, which is the best way to learn apart from living in a Spanish-speaking environment.
"I could not ask for better students who appreciate the language and culture. They make my job so enjoyable, and I love coming to school every day and sharing what I can with them about Spanish and my experiences abroad -- like my trip to Spain."