Katherine Raths, English/Spanish teacher, is not on her first bilingual educational job. After earning her B.A. in English and Spanish from Tulane University in 2009, Raths became an United States Cultural Ambassador in Colmenarejo, Spain.

“Before, when I studied abroad [in Spain], one of the biggest culture shocks was the academics: how it was a lot more memorization and not as much discussion (as I was used to in Tulane),” Raths said about how her junior year abroad aided her later career, “so when I taught international students, I was more aware of different styles of teaching and how they were taught in the past.”

Being young and extra experienced certainly has its perks, one of which is being able to handle teaching an English literature class and a foreign language class at once. But Raths seems to take it rather calmly, focusing on the similarity between the two subjects: the language.

“ I love it; it works two very different parts of my brain,” Raths said about her teaching positions at Sage, “but I think it allows for a lot of unique conversations to come up in class.”

Even though the year has just started, Sage students have already made quite a positive impression on Raths.

“Out of all the high schools and middle schools I’ve taught at, I think students at Sage really live up to the trust that teachers give them,” Raths said.

“I also think it’s the openness. When I went up to the retreat, there was this SAME activity, and I’ve never done anything like that with high school students!” Raths said,  “I think students being so open and receptive to new things also is really different to me.”