My name is Zara Rix, and I am the ESL teacher with the 8th grade. I teach English Language Development classes and get to co-teach math, science, and social studies with the fantastic Cluster 5 core teachers.
My parents are immigrants from two different countries, Italy and Australia, and I was born here in Boston, Massachusetts. My mother moved to the US when she was 13 and she was an English Learner back before most schools had ESL teachers. When I was growing up, most of my parents’ families were overseas, so we traveled a lot to see family.
I still love traveling! By the time I was 26, I had lived in four countries and visited over 20. Most of the time I traveled because of school or work or family, but I also traveled because I love languages and talking to people and discovering new and different things about our world. I lived in Australia for some of my high school years, and during college I studied International Development at the University of Ghana in Accra. I graduated with a degree in English from Calvin College in Michigan, and then I moved to France and taught English in a tiny, tiny town out in the country. When I moved back to the US, I wanted to understand more about why the world is how we see it today, and I had lot of questions about citizenship, borders, and immigration. I took graduate classes and finished a PhD from UConn in 2016. Since 2018, I have been very happy working with English Learners from all over the world at WMS.
When I’m not at school, I am spending time with my two-year-old son named Asher, or I’m cooking, or I’m reading lots and lots of books.
8th grade is a good year. It is challenging, exciting, and filled with many new discoveries. I am excited to see what you will do and who you will become this year!