Haydee Taylor Arnold

I come from a family of educators in Panama, and I came to the United States in 2005 to pursue my Master in Teaching at Lindenwood University. It was a wonderful work-and-learn experience where I was able to understand the theory while being in practice. After graduation, I worked at an urban school in Missouri, and then went back to school to get my master in Spanish Literature while working full-time at Washington University in St. Louis. I then moved to teaching middle schoolers for about 3 years while continuing to work on my PhD. For the past 14 years, I have been teaching at a high school, working with young people and teaching Spanish in a different way. Last year was a milestone for me when I finished my PhD in Curriculum and Instruction. I am first generation in my family to have a PhD, even though my parents are educators, and it was a great honor. My dissertation was a qualitative study focused on Latino educators in the Midwest, and it was very eye-opening to hear from my colleagues about their experiences, many of which aligned with my own. Through that work, I have had it in my heart to continue supporting and helping Latino educators and students as much as I can. I was able to collaborate with the Latino Education Collaborative, and in April, we had the first summit for Latino educators in St. Louis. It was something that was in my heart - we need to be able to connect and create a space where we can support each other. We will continue other summits in the future. My PhD in curriculum instruction allows me to work with my students and support them in their language journey so they have fun in class. I receive my students with a tambourine at the door and have music playing because I want them to feel welcome. I love to have those connections first, and then the content, so they understand that I am their partner and I am there to support them during their journey. Last week, I received the honor of being selected as the Distinguished World Language Educator for the State of Missouri. I am also an advocate for world languages and received an award for transformational advocacy. I have been very involved in supporting languages, especially with what is happening with university courses where some language departments have been closed or merged with others. I like to be very informed about it and support in any way I can. I was in the past the president of the Foreign Language Association of Missouri, and I'm currently president of the AATSP Missouri chapter and also the director of the Sociedad Hispanica de Amistad, which is also a program in the AATSP. I'm very involved in leadership.