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¡Saludos! 

My name is Chelly Basto. I am the department chair of the Palm Desert High School World Languages department. I am teaching Spanish 1 Honors and AP Spanish Language and Culture this year and preparing my students for success on the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam and future success in high school and college Spanish language courses. I also hope that they will leave with Spanish conversation skills and an appreciation of foreign cultures and people. 

This will be my 29th year teaching Spanish. I did undergraduate work at what is now Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, and received my BSEd in Spanish from University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou). My Masters in Ed-Curriculum and Instruction is from William Woods University in Fulton, MO. I taught 10 years of high school Spanish in Versailles, MO; Jefferson City, MO; and Lakeside, CA (in San Diego) before coming to the Coachella Valley. In La Quinta, I taught Spanish at La Quinta Middle School for 3 1/2 years, La Quinta High School for a year and John Glenn Middle School for 5 years.  I love teaching Spanish and I love teaching here at PDHS.  The students and staff here are awesome. 

My experiences in Spanish speaking countries have been wonderful. As a student, I did a two month summer exchange to Mexico City. In college I did a two month summer exchange to Costa Rica. I also visited Honduras to see my "exchange sister" that lived with my family when I was a senior in high school. I traveled to Cd. del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico several times. I ended up living on the island for three years before coming back to the US to live permanently. Also in 2003, I was selected for a month long teacher exchange to Ecuador sponsored by the San Diego Rotarians. As you can see I enjoy traveling. (I think the travel bug was instilled in me at a young age. Growing up I lived in San Diego, CA; Valdez, Alaska; Oakridge, OR; Eldon, MO and several other shorter stints in more towns.) 

Outside of school, I enjoy baseball. Our family team is the St. Louis Cardinals. I also enjoy hiking a lot and I love photography as well.  My oldest son is Carlos.  He graduated from LQHS in 2010 and from UC Santa Barbara as an electrical engineer in 2016. My youngest is Luis. He is 17 years old and a senior here at PDHS this year. They are my life outside of school. 

If you ever need to contact me or just would like to talk, feel free to email me at chelly.basto@desertsands.us

I look forward to a wonderful year with my students. 

¡Hasta pronto!