Her Story
Marilyn Barrueta never intended to be a teacher. She had been hired as a writer for the Latin American division of the Voice of America, and while she waited for her security clearance, the division’s budget was cut. As the only woman, she was told she would also need to work as the division secretary. That same day, a neighbor in her apartment building told her that the Spanish teacher at a local junior high had just resigned. It was the Wednesday before Labor Day. She interviewed the next day and began teaching the following Tuesday. “My guardian angel must have been playing with the VOA budget.”
That was the start of a career of 48 years. In those early years foreign language was offered only to a select group of ninth graders, and Spanish ranked last in prestige behind French, Latin and German. “Luckily no one told me that.” She has taught Spanish in Arlington Public Schools through waves of method changes, from audio-lingual drills to the communicative approach, and now teaches at Yorktown High School, where she was once department chair. Her school system has gone from overwhelmingly monolingual to more than half minority, ethnic and multilingual.
To her students she is “Señora.” One colleague calls her “a genuine polymath,” and her principal says she is repeatedly cited by educators in her school and county as a “model” and an “example.” Researcher Ana Chamot’s work on cognitive academic language learning (CALLA) began with a study of how students learned in her classroom.
Beyond the Classroom
Barrueta has been a leader in language teaching nationwide. She is a charter member of ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, and was elected to its Executive Council (1994–1998). She is a founder of the Greater Washington Association of Teachers of Foreign Languages, which she served as president and vice president three times each, as webmaster and as newsletter editor. For 12 years she wrote its 36-page newsletter.
She has worked with computers since 1984 and has taught technology courses for foreign language teachers. She has taken part in the FLTEACH listserv of more than 3,000 teachers daily since the early 1990s. She has given more than 60 presentations and workshops, serves as a consultant and reviewer for language publications, and was an AP reader for about ten years. She has collaborated on National Endowment for the Humanities institutes at the University of Virginia, creating resource guides distributed nationally, and is currently a fellow in the UVA/NEH Spanish Film Project.
Her Spanish Honor Society has collected winter clothing and a wheelchair battery for members of the local Hispanic community, raised money for relief after earthquakes and mudslides in Mexico, Colombia and Peru, tutored immigrants in English, and set up an after-school Spanish lab that is now offered for all languages. She also sends students on the Amigos program, a 4-to-8-week homestay in Latin America doing community development work.
Philosophy Into Practice
Barrueta’s classroom is crowded with posters, artifacts, maps and a six-foot bull piñata. The rules are few: no food or electronics, everyone is expected to try, and courtesy to all at all times. Students speak only Spanish. She treats her students “as thoughtful adults,” and they know she expects the same from them. Because the county has no curriculum beyond Level 4, she designs the upper levels herself, changing the focus every year, with topics such as “Spain through her arts,” “Life’s Journey” and, one year, the Andean countries, with a trip to Peru and Machu Picchu.
With a colleague she worked for two years to get a non-AP course code so that students below a B average could keep studying the language. As a result, her classes combine four groups of students. Only one student, who was not in the AP class, has ever scored below a 3 on the AP exam, and her advanced classes have more than doubled in spite of her reputation as a hard teacher.
“Not every person who studies the piano can or should be a concert pianist; not every student who studies a language will become fluent. My goal is for all to take away at the very least a basic understanding and some acceptance of a culture that will more and more impact this society.”— Marilyn Barrueta
“My accomplishments are not mine; they belong to my students, along with my gratitude.”— Marilyn Barrueta
In Her Own Words
“I consider any successes to be those of the students who have found value in what I have simply tried to present to the best of my ability for their consideration and learning.”— Marilyn Barrueta
“They are usually introduced to our faculty with a smile as “another one who survived Sra. Barrueta”.”— Marilyn Barrueta, on former students who became her colleagues
“I sometimes have a sign in my classroom which, translated, says “Appreciate me now and avoid the rush.””— Marilyn Barrueta
“Above all, however, I measure my success or failure yearly, personally, internally. My own Judgment Day comes privately every June.”— Marilyn Barrueta
“One must be able to change to want to stay in education this long.”— Marilyn Barrueta
“I have a rather oddball sense of humor, so often incorporate jokes for comprehension, try to include some fun activities, and insert personal anecdotes where I think I can make a point.”— Marilyn Barrueta
What Others Said
“Marilyn Barrueta actually pays rent for another apartment in addition to the one in which she lives simply to store her many foreign language posters, audio-visual materials, papers and materials for class. It is a perfect symbol of her incredible dedication.”— Dr. Raymond Pasi, Principal, Yorktown High School
“I have been telling colleagues, students, and parents that Marilyn Barrueta is the best teacher in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”— David T. Gies, Commonwealth Professor of Spanish, University of Virginia
“Some adore her — some are in awe of her (they have heard her classes are hard) — all respect her. She engages them bell to bell and they know they are learning.”— Sonia J. Wall, retired Arlington County Spanish teacher and parent
“Walking into Marilyn’s classroom instantly transports the student to the culture she is focusing on at the moment.”— Sharon Mellinger, colleague, French teacher
“Marilyn Barrueta is truly a “teacher’s teacher.””— Heller, Spanish Teacher and LOTE Department Chair, Perry (NY) Central School District
“Most of all, what they remember is how much Marilyn Barrueta cares for all her students. “It shines through,” they say, “in all she does.””— Ann Zuniga, Arlington Spanish teacher and parent
“Señora Barrueta is a phenomenal teacher, and I feel incredibly lucky to have been her student.”— Julianne Koch, Yorktown High School Class of 2004
“She gave them cross-cultural understanding and critical language skills, which they have made use of in far reaching ways. Her impact on our world, therefore, is inestimable.”— Katharine G. Panfil, Ph.D., former Supervisor of Foreign Languages, Arlington