SHORELINE –– Language and culture have always been a passion for Shoreline teacher Siri Hulbert. Her travels have taken her to Japan, Central America, South America, Thailand and other places, but the adventure currently awaiting her in Mexico will be different from anything else she’s experienced.
Hulbert, her husband and their 2 1/2—year-old son departed Tuesday, Sept. 20 for an eight-month stay in Mexico, during which Hulbert will teach Spanish to local youth in impoverished Zihuatanejo.
The cinder-block walls, chalkboards and single fan will provide a backdrop unlike Hulbert’s technology-filled classroom at Shorecrest High School.
“It’ll be a very different experience for me,” Hulbert said.
Hulbert, 36, is teaching in Mexico thanks to a grant from the greater Seattle Rotary club, which is piloting this project for Rotary International for the first time.
Rotary already sends high- school students and university professors on ambassador programs abroad.
“We asked Rotary International if we could do a pilot project to send two high-school teachers abroad for a year,” said Sally Gray, district governor for 54 Seattle-area Rotaries, including Shoreline, Shoreline Breakfast and Hulbert’s club, Lake Forest Park.
After applying, Hulbert and a West Seattle teacher were chosen as the two individuals to test the waters for the program. Depending on how things go for the two teachers, Rotary will consider funding the grant again.
“If it’s as successful as I think it will be, I’d like Rotary to do this throughout the world,” Gray said.
Hulbert, who has taught at Shorecrest since 1996, said she is very thankful for this opportunity, which she and Shorecrest Principal Brian Schultz both consider a professional-development experience.
“I don’t think there’s a greater staff development one can receive than immersion in the culture in which they’re teaching,” Schultz said.
He said Hulbert’s time in Mexico will strengthen her ability to teach and could create connections between Zihuatanejo and the Shoreline/Lake Forest Park communities.
Sharing her experience with the Shoreline community is important to Hulbert, as she views knowledge of another language as much more than just courses taught in school.
“When you know another language, you know another culture,” she said.
Hulbert will work with Spanish and English teachers during her time in Mexico, and they will likely learn a lot from each other.
Teaching Spanish to native Spanish-speakers between the ages of 13 and 20 means that Hulbert will focus less on vocabulary and grammar and more on literature, an area in which she hopes to become more knowledgeable.
Ultimately, Hulbert said she would love to see another year of Spanish offered in Shoreline high schools, one that would focus solely on Spanish literature, she said.
But a lot will happen during the next eight months, as Hulbert spends time getting to know people in the community. She said she would like to establish an Interact Club, a high-school version of Rotary, at the school.
She also has received donations of books and money to build up the school library, which she will concentrate on throughout the year. While this is an opportunity to help aid the school, Hulbert is not making that a priority of her time in Mexico.
“I don’t want it to be a welfare program – I want it to be educational,” she said.
The Shoreline School District has been an important supporter of this program, she said. It’s an indication of the two-way relationship community groups and the local schools have, Hulbert and Schultz said.
“It continues to be how Lake Forest Park and Shoreline distinguish themselves from other communities,” Schultz said.
Hulbert will have a laptop and be able to correspond with other Shoreline teachers and students during the trip. The district also will have a teaching position for her when she returns to the community next year, which is an important aspect of the grant.
One of the goals for this trip is to create connections between the communities and Rotaries in both areas, and Hulbert is vested in returning to Shoreline and sharing her experiences and knowledge with others.
“I think she’s going to be a great ambassador for us,” Gray said.
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