About Me

My name is Selena Sutherland and I am so excited to be your child's Spanish Teacher at Gold Rush Elementary School!

I have been a part of the Gold Rush community as a parent since 2017 when I chose to open enroll my daughter Jasmine there after visiting a few of our closest neighborhood schools. I have loved Gold Rush since the first time I visited and my son Lucas will now be entering 3rd grade at our school this year.

I consider bilingualism a true gift and it is one of the things I am most grateful for. My parents came to the United States shortly before I was born. They actually made a return to Mexico after I was born - though only for a few years - so I lived in Mexico at a very young age and have a few memories of singing cute Spanish preschool songs. Since my parents did not speak English, my three sisters and I grew up only speaking Spanish at home and I didn't learn English until elementary school in California.

I decided to take a Spanish class in high school to learn to read and write the language properly and I was fascinated to learn grammar rules that my brain had simply picked up. I decided to become a Spanish Teacher and studied at the University of California, Irvine where I received my Bachelor's in Spanish with an emphasis in Teaching Language and Culture. I then received my Master of Arts in Teaching from UC Irvine as well a couple of years later and my teaching career began at Corona High School in Corona, California.

My husband and I moved to Colorado in 2007 and I taught Spanish at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs for seven years. We moved to Parker in 2014 and I was fortunate enough to stay at home with my daughter who was three years old at the time and my son who was born a year later. It was important for me to raise my children bilingually and since day one I have only spoken Spanish to my daughter and my son.

While I was at home with my kids, I found other native Spanish speaking moms and created a small Spanish preschool co-op with them to help us continue to expose our kids to our language and culture.

In 2021, I began teaching Spanish online with a small company and began teaching primarily students in Kindergarten thru Middle School, as well as adults.

Since becoming a mom, I have thought to myself that I would love to teach younger students and I am so thrilled and honored to be able to live out that dream at our beloved school! I am very excited to become a part of your child's Spanish learning journey!

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