The Adams Teacher of the Year award was recently awarded to Señora Stanton–Verduzco. For 18 years, Stanton has had a reputation for being a thoughtful, caring, and well-respected teacher. In addition to this role, Stanton runs the Spanish Club, Spanish Honor Society, Quiz Bowl, and has recently stepped down from being the National Honor Society sponsor after running the club for most of her teaching career. I had the honor of interviewing Stanton recently and hearing about her life’s story and teaching style.
Stanton spent most of her life growing up between Chile and the United States. She was born in Arizona, but her parents who were Catholic missionaries soon moved back to her mother’s native country, Chile. Later, Stanton and her family moved to New York while she was in middle school where Stanton had to learn English since Spanish was her first language. She then went back to Chile for high school before deciding to go to college in the U.S. due to the rigidity of choosing a career in Chile. Stanton has a passionate love for literature and culture which she was able to study at Notre Dame. She later obtained her masters in secondary education at IUSB. She is now in her 18th year of teaching at Adams.
Stanton is very close with her family. She is the oldest of her three siblings. She is also close with her parents who taught her to be passionate about social issues and giving back. Currently, she has a wife, a son in college, a dog, and a cat. She greatly appreciates the support of her wife and son as they have supported her throughout her teaching career. She has several hobbies that she is passionate about including playing the guitar, reading fantasy novels, watching movies, playing board games (especially word or knowledge games which is evident in her love for Quiz Bowl), watching Notre Dame women’s basketball, traveling, language and culture. Stanton’s love for reading is evident in her statement, “In another life, I was a witch.” Her favorite books include the All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende and Legend Born by Tracy Deonn. She also enjoys reading poetry and her favorite poet is Pablo Neruda. She describes her taste in music as “eclectic” enjoying 70s and 80s rock music with her favorite bands being Guns and Roses, ACDC, Styx and Journey, while also enjoying musica Andina, merengue, bachata and Spanish rock.
She centers her classes around the well-being and learning of her students, describing her teaching style as an “empathetic, stricter teacher…I teach most days from bell to bell so the time in class is so valuable.” In general, Stanton concluded that she places importance on providing structure and parameters for her class while also understanding that her students have a lot of pressure from other classes, so she tries not to overwhelm them with work from her own class. Additionally, she finds lots of excitement in planning creative and fun lessons, saying, “I am super nerdy about lesson planning. I love creating lessons. I love creating new units.” Her teaching pet peeves, on the other hand, are when students speak English and when students are more focused on grades rather than learning, stating, “I understand that there’s a system of grades, but there’s so much value when you just take a minute and learn. That’s how you develop your brain. That’s how you develop your learning style. That’s how you move forward in life.”
In my interview with her, Stanton opened up about some of the challenges that she believes that teachers face in today’s society. She believes that the lack of respect for the profession has made it an even more difficult role than it already is. She also believes that teaching is a very demanding job which takes up a lot of mental and emotional energy which becomes a challenge when a teacher’s personal life becomes busy. Another challenge that she talked about when it comes to teaching is helping students navigate their mental health and lack of learning after the pandemic, but she is extremely proud of how her department overcame this issue. She also shared about her favorite teachers who inspired her like Señora Lopez her own high school Spanish teacher n Chile—which would be the equivalent of an English teacher in the U.S.— and her fifth grade English teacher in New York who was empathetic about how Stanton had to adapt to learning a new language and culture.
She loves interacting with students and having an impact on them in both the classes and the clubs that she leads. Multiple times throughout the interview, Stanton mentioned the importance of student interactions and how she is able to mentor students through her role as a teacher. She stated, “— I think as teachers our biggest accomplishments are when we see our students succeed or do things for themselves.” This importance of student interactions was also evident when she started explaining that one of the hardest lessons she learned early on as a teacher was learning how to let go and say goodbye to students after they graduate, commenting, “In most professions, you don’t meet as many people as you do as when you’re a high school teacher…and so realizing that you have to make the best of the time…and hope that that time and that impact they will be able to take with them through life and know that they’re going to be good human beings once they leave. It’s okay to just kind of let go and hope for the best.” On that note, she advises her students to, “Be kind. Be empathetic. Be kind not just to others but to yourself… Do something good in the world and I think sometimes when people say that like ‘do something good in the world’ they think ‘oh I have to do this grandiose thing’ and you really don’t. Doing something good in the world can be an everyday little thing or just how you treat people or how you approach people…Travel. Experience cultures. Experience language. Enjoy life…Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment. Enjoy that time you have. Enjoy the present. Enjoy what you’re doing and just enjoy life as it comes and not worry so much about what will happen five [or] ten years from now.”
Stanton’s impact on her students is evident in the way that they talk about her and the reputation that she has gained as a trust-worthy and understanding teacher. One of her IB HL Spanish students, Grace Mellor, shared, “I think that Señora is an incredible teacher because she goes out of her way to meet every student where they are, find ways to help them grow and succeed, and support them through every step. Señora is one of the most dedicated and compassionate people I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and she brings that into the classroom every single day.” Mellor also mentioned some of the ways in which Stanton has had a personal impact saying, “Spanish-wise, Señora has gone out of her way countless times to help me grow and succeed. She’s offered me unique solutions on how to improve my vocabulary and my speaking, and has taken time out of her (incredibly busy) day to answer any questions I have. Beyond the classroom, I consider Señora to be an incredible mentor and inspiration – her passion for teaching is admirable, and I believe her to be the best example of what every teacher should strive to become.”
Another one of her students, Rosa Morel, stated, “The first class I had with Stanton was her Spanish 6 class in my sophomore year. I really enjoyed that because it was the first time I was in a language class in which I was expected to speak only in the target language the entire time. It was difficult at first, but I enjoyed the challenge, and I think that was probably one of the best classes I ever had. Since Stanton created the curriculum for that class herself, it was at once a combination of useful grammatical instruction as well as a source of exposure to lots of topics I hadn’t been taught in other classes. Stanton initially described it to us as ‘bootleg IB Spanish 4’ and I loved that!” Morel also described her teaching style explaining, “Stanton is patient, kind, affable, and entertaining. She combines fun activities and engaging games with rigorous learning and crucial aspects of Spanish to clarify details that are not always easy for new speakers to understand. She is adept at doling out constructive criticism in a manner that is helpful and encouraging, while still holding us to high standards. I always adore her classes.”
Señora Stanton is extremely deserving of this recent award after her years of passionate and inspirational teaching. She continues to have a lasting impact on her students and create a safe classroom environment. Her focus on the well-being and growth of her students has marked her path as the Adams 2024-2025 teacher of the year.
