Mrs. Ubarri: A New Inspiration at WHS
October 3, 2019
A new faculty member of Westborough High School who is both knowledgeable and inspiring is Spanish teacher Mrs. Ubarri. She teaches Introduction to Spanish and Spanish III Honors and enjoys spreading her love of foreign language with students.
Mrs. Ubarri grew up on the island of Puerto Rico and Spanish was her first language. Her mother went to school with English nuns, where she learned Spanish at school and wanted her children to do the same. Mrs. Ubarri was exposed to English everyday at school and was also taught by English nuns.
Though she was exposed to English everyday at school, she would speak Spanish with her friends and family at home. In high school, Mrs. Ubarri took French for two years and took French in college. She enjoys teaching herself French as well.
Initially, Mrs. Ubarri decided to go to college in Puerto Rico to study business. However, she decided that it was not the path for her. She had always had an interest in foreign languages because she attended a bilingual school and felt a calling to become a teacher when she started tutoring.
“And then I realized that was my calling. I think it is a calling in a way to be a teacher. I don’t think anyone can be a teacher because you do have to have a lot of patience, you have to enjoy what you are doing, and be empathetic and understanding,” re marks Mrs. Ubarri.
She tutored ELL students in Southbridge Preschool for a couple years where she was inspired to help them because she knew she could make a difference. Before coming to Westborough, she had taught Spanish for ten years in schools across Massachusetts.
After attending college in Puerto Rico, Mrs. Ubarri spontaneously moved to Spain and ended up loving the culture. She stayed there for 10 years. After Spain, she moved to Massachusetts to live closer to her brother and sister. She ended up staying here and having her two daughters, Julia and Cristina. She now lives in Charlton and commuting to Westborough everyday. She also says she would like to move back to Spain for retirement.
According to Mrs. Ubarri teaching is very dynamic and she enjoys being a teacher because there is always more to learn and everyday is different and unique.
“I love teaching but I love learning too…We teachers, we learn things all the time and we learn from the students too,” comments Mrs. Ubarri.
One of the main reasons she moved to Westborough is because she loved the immersion program here and the way the curriculum is divided into levels of proficiency. She loves the great team of teachers here along with her teaching of young students. She has taught all levels from Spanish one to AP Spanish and likes teaching all levels to see the development and growth of her students.
Her advice to learning a language is to invest a lot of time because the more time you spend learning a language, is going to affect how fast and well you learn it. She stresses that both patience and motivation are very important and that the ultimate goal is to think in the language you are learning.
In her free time, Mrs. Ubarri loves watching movies, reading, zumba, and yoga. She and her daughter enjoy Downton Abbey and have even gone to the museum! She is really interested in traveling and believes it is interrelated with learning a language. She loves traveling because she can immerse in new cultures and understand the world better.
Mrs. Ubarri says, “I think traveling is a wonderful way of acquiring practicing a language for example and it also opens your eyes to different cultures and it creates a lot of opportunities to open your mind and reflect upon your own culture and think about understanding the world and people better.”
In her summers, she travels and works with young people in a Spanish immersion program. She adds that the beach is one of her favorite places as well.
Mrs. Ubarri loves teaching foreign language because everyday is different. She says it’s like a rollercoaster and is fun! She is currently working towards earning her masters in education. After that, she would like to get back to learning French.
Overall, this new face around the school is full of an interesting background and knowledge. She wants to make a difference in her students and provide them with great knowledge.
