Joining Parker’s staff of world languages teachers is Valentina Correa, taking over Lower School Spanish classes from Dan Baltierra.

Correa grew up speaking Spanish in Manizales, Colombia. After attending Universidad de Caldas for five years, Correa graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in performing arts with an emphasis in theater. She then taught theater in Colombia for two years.

Correa came to the United States in 2006 as part of a cultural exchange in order to learn English and stayed with an American family. She applied for a job at a private school in the Chicago area, Language Stars, that was in need of native speakers to teach Spanish. After being accepted, the school offered for her to stay there long-term.

“I actually found that [being a Spanish teacher] connects really well with what I studied in theater because I tried to use a lot of those skills in my teaching,” Correa said. “Now it’s one of my passions.”

Since then, Correa has been teaching Spanish for 14 years at smaller, private schools such as the Montessori School in the West Loop as well as bigger institutions such as Instituto Cervantes. Still, she was always looking for new opportunities to expand her teaching horizon. In March of 2021, she heard of the job opening at Parker and immediately applied because it was “perfect.”

“I’m so happy that now I am a part of this community,” Correa said. 

While she has been teaching at different grade levels ranging from Kindergarten through eighth grade, Correa says that her passion is with elementary students. Prior to coming to Parker, she taught Kindergarten through fourth grade at Catherine Cook for three years. Now, she will be teaching Kindergarten through second grade. Other Parker faculty members share her excitement about the upcoming school year.

“Ms. Correa comes with experience and brings a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy to her work and I think the kids will really gravitate to her lessons,” World Language and Culture Studies department co-chair and Upper School  Spanish teacher Liz Villagomez said. “She’s also very much devoted to the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion and she is thoughtful about how she can incorporate those concepts into her lessons whenever possible. I think that’s just going to enhance our lower school curriculum.”

Correa seconded her enthusiasm for teaching more than just the language. “I’m really passionate about what I do, and I love to share my culture,” she said. “I want them to be better citizens of the world and I think that bringing culture to the classroom is a good way for them to get better at it, or have an awareness of how different people and different cultures are.”