Patricia Leonard
November 14, 2022
¡Hola! Dane Leone, Mark Petrarca, and Patricia Leonard comprise the Spanish portion of the languages department. Teaching Spanish has been a dream come true for Leonard. “One of the things I guess I always wanted to do is to not only learn about other cultures, but also teach about my own culture,” Leonard said.
Leonard started teaching 20 years ago, seven of which she has spent teaching Spanish at Altoona. She attended Saint Francis University and received a master’s degree in education as well as her certification degree to teach Spanish.
Leonard is originally from Central America. She studied at the University of Honduras and earned a degree in social and judicial sciences prior to moving to the United States.
Leonard’s interest in teaching started from a young age. She recalled the times she would play pretend as a child.
“Since I was little, I always remember playing with my sister. We would play that we were teachers. Every opportunity we had we’d do volunteer work. We had to do some volunteer work in secondary school and in high school, and I remember that I took every chance I had to work with kids and help them,” Leonard said.
Leonard’s sister also decided on a teaching career path. She teaches at an elementary school in Honduras. Both of them continued to learn English throughout their high school years.
“I remember when [my sister and I] were in high school we would always take English classes. There were private school programs that were offered after school for people to learn English. We always were excited about learning English and actually more. We learned French and also a little bit of German,” Leonard said.
Learning about other languages and cultures has interested Leonard for quite some time. While attending the University of Honduras, her curiosity of English prompted her to study abroad.
“I always liked to learn other languages and about other cultures. I wanted to learn English, so I came to the United States. There was a program at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh along with an ESL program. I was really inspired. I really wanted to learn more about the language and the culture,” Leonard said.
[Being from another country] definitely gives me that ability to share life experiences with the students, [including] the language, the music, the art, and everything that I grew up with. — Patricia Leonard
During her time spent in the United States, Leonard met her husband. They decided to marry two years later, and both of them wanted to stay close to his family. Leonard decided to stay in the United States.
Leonard has always wanted to not only learn about other cultures but teach about her own culture as well. She found a job in Altoona that allows her to do just that.
Leonard feels that being from another country helps her share Spanish culture with her students.
“I think it definitely gives me a unique opportunity to share with students, my family and friends all about my culture. When it comes to these things, it definitely gives me that ability to share life experiences with the students, [including] the language, the music, the art, and everything that I grew up with,” Leonard said.
Leonard believes that seeing how much students grow throughout the school year is the most rewarding part of teaching.
“I really like to see how much Spanish the students know, especially at the beginning of the year. It’s really rewarding to see how much they grow throughout the year until the end of the year when we’re able to have a conversation or just to see how much they can learn. I always tell them how many opportunities learning a second language will bring them, so that’s definitely one of my favorite [parts of teaching],” Leonard said.
Leonard encourages anyone to travel to other parts of the world when given the chance.
“I would definitely highly recommend, if you have the opportunity, to travel to other parts of the world. It really gives you an opportunity to really learn. It changes your life once you learn this or once you see how other people live and things that are happening in other parts of the world. It really changes your perspective of how society is and it gives you a very unique perspective in any area, whether it’s for working, traveling or personal enrichment,” Leonard said.