Kindness and Heart

From zumba dances to trips to Peru, Señora Bocanegra has brought so much to JA and deserves to be recognized for all that she does.

 “I was born in Peru, my city is Tacna, it’s on the border with Chile,” stated Sra. Bocanegra. “I came here in 2000 with my family.” 

Señora Bocanegra became a Spanish teacher at CU soon after moving to the USA, and in 2012 she came to JA.

 “I decided to come here to JA to teach secondary because I know that I can prepare students for the next level, university level. So I decided to start here,” said Sra. Bodanegra.

 Señora Bocanegra has been here for 13 years and is continually learning and growing alongside others here at JA.

 “My experience here is amazing,” noted Sra. Bocanegra. “We have different kinds of students, different kinds of classes, and each year is different for me.” 

Señora Bocanegra makes sure her class is fun, engaging and unique from the other classes here at JA.

 “I try to use different games and strategies, for example, Estrella,” exclaimed Sra. Bocanegra. “We sing songs and we dance every day, some are different dances from different countries.” 

Teaching Spanish isn’t the only thing Señora Bocanegra does. She also is a part of the Spanish Honors Society. “We meet the first and the third week at lunchtime and we have a lot of activities with the students from a lot of different levels,” declared Sra. Bocanegra.

Students who’ve been in her classes, like Kennedy Candelaria, can testify why Señora Bocanegra deserves to be recognized as the staff of the month. 

“She’s a very kind and helpful teacher,” Candelaria said. 

Rylee Cox says Señora Bocanegra's unique teaching style has helped her better understand and speak Spanish.

 “I’ve definitely improved a lot. I didn’t know much beforehand, but I know how to start a conversation and how to do small talk!” exclaimed Cox.

 Danvy Hoang enjoys Señora Bocanegra’s teaching style as well and has learned a lot over the small amount of time in class. 

“She’s very patient and very thorough with her explanations,” Hoang stated. “Her not speaking that much English helps me realize what words mean that I didn’t know before.” 

Spanish class does a lot of stuff but Candelaria has one activity that sticks out the most to her.

 “The most memorable moment was probably our zumba dances before class, " Candelaria noted. 

 Cox agrees that zumba has been a signature part of Señora Bocanegra’s Spanish classes.

 “I remember some mornings I would walk in and she would put on zumba on the screen and we would all dance. It was really fun, and she made it fun for all of us,” stated Cox. 

Zumba is just one of the many reasons why others recommend her class. KK Smith enjoys Spanish class because of Señora Bocanegra’s personality.

“She’s very fun, she’s a very energetic teacher and overall she makes the class fun,” Smith notes. “We don’t just sit there the whole time, we get to get up and move around.”

 In the end, Señora Bocanegra has made her classes memorable for every student and truly strives to help them better understand Spanish. 

“You can tell she puts a lot of work into her job,” noted Hoang. “She cares about her job very much.”