“Hola, clase! Buenos días!” 

When you walk into C-10, you will most certainly be met with this greeting from Maria Gibson, the new Spanish 1 teacher at Oak Park High School. Amidst the various signs around the classroom like “el estante” and “la pared,” you can find her behind her desk, laden with many trinkets from her adventures. When she found out she was hired at OPHS, she was surprised and equally ecstatic.

“I was very happy,” Gibson said. “I am confident in my knowledge and experiences. I have a lot of knowledge about Latinos and Peru. I share everyday words and tips, simple phrases that we use everyday in Latino America. My goal here is to share my culture. [I am excited to help] the department to teach students language but also culture in general. I like the environment. I hope I stay here for a long time.” 

Born in Peru, she immigrated to America in 2002, where she attended California State University, Long Beach  and received her bachelor’s degree.

“When I was in Peru, I studied psychology for my family and my first husband,” Gibson said. “When I came to America, I always had a passion for how the interactions [work] here in the Latino communities so I decided to study Latino and Chicano studies. I learned a lot about Latino history in America and [it felt] like a compromise with my ethnicity; [it allowed] me to share my culture with others, especially people who do not speak [Spanish], so they can have more appreciation [for] my culture. That is why I became a Spanish teacher.”

With her first month coming to a close, she has noticed radical differences compared to schools she has taught at before.

“A highlight is students [here] behave better than other schools,” Gibson said. “They [obey] phone [rules]. They listen. [They] have a lot of appreciation for this school. Parents are doing good with their kids. So far, I feel like the phone is not an addiction. At this school, I feel that students don’t misuse their phones or show signs of addiction, which, unfortunately, I witnessed in students at my previous workplaces.”

As a Latina, she hopes to educate her students on Latin identity and culture.

“As a teacher, I want to teach [about] my knowledge, my culture, but also to be a good example to my students. I want them to see in me what a Latina woman is like in America: hardworker, consistent and respectful,” she said. 

Thanks to years of experience, Gibson knows how difficult it can be to learn a second language. Her advice is to consistently practice and never stop.

“The thing with learning a second language is it requires a lot of practice. [If] you do not practice, you forget. Never stop practicing the new language you are learning.”