At the end of the school year, Spanish teacher Nancy Wesselman is set to retire after 23 years of teaching at Parkway Central. After being inspired to teach Spanish as an elementary school student, Wesselman was able to achieve her goal.

“Missionaries from Honduras came and spoke to my class. The culture and language  really interested me and I knew this was what I wanted to study,” Wesselman said.

Over the years, Wesselman has taught Spanish I through V and therefore has influenced many students of various ages.

“It’s really rewarding working with kids. Students always come in and keep me energized throughout the day. It’s also comforting knowing that whatever kids learn in Spanish it is because of help from the teacher, and that I have personally impacted them,” Wesselman said.

She influences the students with her passion for teaching and her love for students.

“She makes class special, and she has built a great relationship with our class to help make Spanish special,” senior Andy Dalin said.

Wesselman has been involved throughout the years by chaperoning multiple Spanish class trips to Spain and Costa Rica. “Costa Rica was great. Being able to stay with the same family both trips made it possible to become very close with the family and we built a close relationship,” Wesselman said.

With these trips and personal experiences, Wesselman is able to incorporate real experiences while teaching Spanish culture.

“Her real-life stories make class engaging. It is a reason she can conduct students to listen to her because you cannot beat life experiences,” former student and business teacher Bina Shah said.

Since becoming a teacher, Wesselman has become one of the students’ favorites. Whether she shows off her comical side in class or the rare occasion when she plays Text Twist with students to end a class, she always shows a compassionate side to help make a student’s day better. She also includes a wide variety of activities and PowerPoints to help make every student better at Spanish.

“Technology has made class exciting. It is integral to teaching class nowadays,” Wesselman said.

Wesselman is always willing to attempt to use new technology to help students, which impresses her colleagues.

“She is always using new technology to help interact with students and make sure she gives her best effort to teach them. It’s inspirational because with new technology she is still trying to learn instead of giving up,” Shah said.