Leaving her past life and family behind, new Spanish teacher, Mary Roose, made the move across the United States for her new teaching career. Making this life altering decision wasn’t difficult for Mrs. Roose. Teaching at more than two other schools in her previous state of Colorado, the new atmosphere here at Whitney High School is still a brand new experience for her.

Before living in Colorado, Roose lived in Arizona for her whole life. There, she discovered her love for Spanish and teaching.

“My favorite teacher in high school was my Spanish teacher, but growing up in Arizona I was always around Spanish and even though it’s not my first language, my friends spoke it and so it was always a part of my life. When I was in highschool we took this big family trip to Spain and I loved it. And it was just so much fun and I love to travel and so because I speak Spanish I have gone to a lot of cool places that otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to. And I knew I wanted to be a teacher so I chose español,” Roose said.

Roose decided to move from Arizona to Colorado for college and attended Colorado State University, where she received her Masters and decided to further her Spanish career and take a semester abroad in Spain.

Moving halfway across the country has been an adjustment for Mrs. Roose as she explains her sense of direction has been completely jumbled and the terrain of California versus Colorado is different.

“I prefer warmer weather and I don’t really like the snow, so I figured it’s now or never,” Roose said.

This now or never attitude is what caused Whitney High’s new spanish teacher to pack her bags and head away from her family and friends. Adjusting to the new curriculum and creating new material for her classes has all been apart of the journey of moving to California.

Even though moving to a new school has some challenges, Roose is loving her experience here at Whitney.

“I noticed our rallies are way better from my other schools I’ve taught at, so the last rally we had I was really impressed with how everyone got ready for it and when all the kids showed up they were really involved which surprised me because at my last school they had school spirit but here its a strong sense of community,” Roose said.

After living in three different states and teaching at two different schools, Roose is no stranger to change. Since meeting all of her new students and experiencing Whitney’s strong sense of community, Roose feels the school is becoming a new place she can call home.

by TAYLOR BUTLER, JACK SILVA, CHLOE PRUDHOE, DAYA KHUNKHUN & SIENNA EAGLE