¡Bienvenidos!
Sra. Paynich's mission statement:
Learning a second language can be scary because you have to take lots of risks and you have to be willing to make lots of mistakes. And I mean A. LOT. of mistakes. I've made some doozies since I started learning Spanish in 7th grade...like the time I tried to order "seafood" (mariscos) at a restaurant but ended up ordering "people of Muslim descent" (moriscos). 🤦♀️
But those mistakes were all part of the learning process and I wouldn't be fluent today without them.
My mission is to create a respectful and safe environment for all students so that everyone feels comfortable making those mistakes that teach us so much about the language and how to use it. To do this, I will provide a nurturing environment with high learning and behavioral expectations so we can all grow intellectually, emotionally, and socially together!
About me
Hi everyone! My name is Kaitie Paynich and I am going to be your Spanish teacher this year! For those of you who don't know me, I'm the one on the bottom right in the picture. That other gal is my wife, Christine. We've been married for three years! That picture was taken on our honeymoon at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 2018, which is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. Christine is the Event Coordinator at Bookbug & this is a bookstore so as you can imagine we LOVE to read. We also are big animal lovers. We have three pets: two black cats named Adie and Penny and a black lab named Gordon. They will be frequent guest stars throughout the year in my grammar examples! :-)
Spanish has been a passion of mine since I started learning it in 7th grade. I graduated from WMU in 2010 with my BA in Spanish Education and again in 2019 with my Masters in Hispanic Studies with a focus on Spanish Linguistics and Latin American Literature. This year marks my 10th year teaching Spanish at Portage Northern! While teaching and learning Spanish may look wildly different from past years, I am ready to use all the tricks of the trade I have learned over the past decade to make this year one of the best. Rest assured - you are in good hands!