Sandra Mitchell
November 30, 2022
Smile! Mitchell traveled to the North Sea and the Black Forest in Germany with her family over the summer. She is very excited to be able to share German culture with her students. “I am glad that we are offering German at Altoona. I’m not sure if once Dr. Petrarca retires and I no longer work here if German would still be an option. It’s harder and harder to find language teachers, especially for German,” Mitchell said. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Mitchell)
Mitchell has been teaching for 18 years total. She taught in Tyrone for ten years before transferring to the language department in Altoona.
“I didn’t start out as a language teacher. I started out as an elementary education teacher. Then, I taught middle school history, science and computers. It wasn’t until Altoona called me because their German teacher had left, that they asked [me] ‘Don’t you want to teach German here?’,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell lived in Mainz, Germany for the first 19 years of her life. She traveled to State College after graduating from high school.
“I initially came to State College as an au pair. An au pair is kind of like a nanny. I lived with a family for one year while I took care of their child, and then I met my husband. Well, at the time he was my boyfriend,” Mitchell said. “The only way to stay was to study here, and then after I finished my studies we got married.”
In high school, Mitchell worked with children outside of the classroom. She tutored English and interacted with children of various ages. This experience inspired her to take a teaching career path. I think I can bring an authentic experience to the class because this is my natural culture, my own culture. — Sandra Mitchell
“I think I always have known that I wanted to be a teacher because I always worked with children. I was a camp counselor. I taught Sunday school as a high school student. I was a gymnastics instructor. I tutored English, and I babysat a ton,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell attended three different universities to finish her education: one in Germany, and two in the United States.
“I attended Mt. Aloysius college for my Bachelor’s, and St. Francis for my Master’s. I have a certificate from the University of Jena to teach German as a second language,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell believes that being from another part of the world allows her to provide a unique classroom setting.
“I think I can bring an authentic experience to the class because this is my natural culture, my own culture. I still learn what the American culture is a lot of times,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell’s favorite part of teaching is seeing her students succeed.
“[My favorite part of teaching is] being with the students and the excitement when they are able to communicate in another language,” Mitchell said.