Pampa High School was honored to have the Director of the entire Texas Tech Spanish Program, Dr. Andrew Reynolds, and his team in our school last Friday, November 14th. Dr. Reynolds was accompanied by Dr. Katherine Ward, Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics, and Gloria Cadenas, a master’s level professor who is in the process of acquiring her Doctorate Degree. After making the three-hour trip from Lubbock, the three professors introduced themselves and made an hour-long presentation to the Spanish 4 AP class over educational and career options after high school and answered questions about the college process at Texas Tech. All three of the professors are extremely personable and were an immediate hit with the Spanish 4 students. Dr. Reynolds has lived in Mexico, Argentina, and Spain. Dr. Ward lived seven years in Ecuador where she taught College English and studied the relationship between Spanish and Quechua, the language of the Inca. Gloria Cadenas is from the area around Seville, Spain where Texas Tech has an educational center. She became familiar with Texas Tech in Lubbock through the Texas Tech Center in Seville.
When the Spanish 4 class period was over, Professors Ward and Cadenas had an interview planned for Spanish 4 AP Teacher Mike Cole and Danna Carrillo, the top student from the record breaking 2025 Spanish 4 AP class. The interview was meant to dig deeper into the structure and strategies used in the program and how so much success has been achieved in such a relatively remote school district, while bigger school districts struggle to produce a successful system in their language departments. Cole was asked about his cultural background, personal teaching style, challenges to starting an advanced Spanish testing program, and the benefits the program provides to his students when they go to college. Carrillo, a PHS Senior, provided a student’s point of view and was questioned on the difficulties of managing the choices required to maintain personal friendships and family relations, while at the same time fulfilling the high academic demands required for AP classes.
All three professors are in the process of co-writing a book about Language Teaching in West Texas and one of the chapters will highlight the challenges and achievements of the Pampa High School program. Dr. Reynolds understands that growth in the realm of languages happens through relationships, connections, and networking. The future book by these three Texas Tech Professors will be a way to share knowledge among the language community and will surely aid in the formation of improved instructional courses and teacher training in our region of the U.S.
Thank you to these three professors for their dedication to language education and their efforts to better understand ways to build closer cultural affiliations through improved communication. The partnership between Texas Tech and the PHS Spanish program has never been stronger, and we look forward to what this means for students who will pass through the halls of Pampa High School in the future.
In the picture from L to R:
Dr. Katherine Ward, Ass’t Professor of Spanish Linguistics at Texas Tech; Mike Cole, Spanish 3 and 4 at PHS; Danna Carrillo, Top Spanish 4 AP Student from 2025; Martin Moreno, Spanish 2 at PHS; Bella Tarango, Spanish 1 at PHS; Dr. Andrew Reynolds, Director of Spanish at Texas Tech, Gloria Cadenas, Masters Professor at Texas Tech; Clay Jones, PHS Principal.