The halls of Oshkosh North are filled with new faces this year, freshman, transfer students, and new teachers. While some faces may seem new to some, others might recognize a familiar face from the past.

Lisa Hinderman now teaches Spanish here after teaching at Webster Middle School for the past 28 years. 

¨ I wanted to try something new and have more of a challenge,¨ Hinderman said.

The teaching position opened when former Spanish teachers Gina Munig and Elizabeth Gaspar resigned from the positions. Munig now teaches in the Communities program at North while Gaspar left to teach elsewhere.

Hinderman currently teaches CAPP Spanish and Spanish 2.

¨After teaching Middle School Spanish for so long, CAPP has been a really exciting change. Now, I’m able to talk in Spanish all class period.¨

She first discovered her passion for Spanish when the Hinderman family took in a foreign exchange student named Fany Basteris when she was younger. 

¨I was never the best Spanish student, but one day hearing my family laugh while having such fluid conversations in Spanish made me want to do better. I started trying really hard in Spanish so I could understand the Spanish conversations happening around me.¨

To this day Hinderman still keeps in contact with Basteris. She and her family even housed her daughter Jimena a couple years ago.

Now that she teaches older students, Hinderman looks forward to seeing some faces from Webster.

¨I’m looking forward to being in a high school environment after being in a middle school for so long. It’s also exciting being able to teach some students I used to teach at Webster again, and seeing their still interested in learning Spanish¨

Unlike High School, every student in 7th grade is required to take Spanish.

¨I often had kids that I could tell did not want to be there. But in high school, Spanish is an elective class, so I know that the students I’m teaching now are all interested in wanting to learn and improve their Spanish,” she said

Hinderman, having been a student who struggled in Spanish, now uses what worked for her in her teaching. 

¨I think about how my kids and I best learn Spanish and how I can incorporate it into class. We best learn with hands on activities, which is why I use whiteboards, quizlets, kahoots, and other games in my classes¨

Her knowledge of teaching methods, past experience, and love for Spanish are all things that are going to help her succeed and have a great year at Oshkosh North.