On my first day of sixth grade at Brandywine Springs School, I was very nervous because sixth grade was when you move to the left side of the school where the big kids are and when you start changing classes. I had never taken Spanish before, so I was really dreading it.  Then I walked into Mrs. Igo’s classroom; I had never seen a classroom more colorful than hers. There were all different kinds of Hispanic posters and crafts from her previous classes all over the walls, and throughout the whole class period, she was smiling. I thought to myself that maybe this class wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Mrs. Igo is my favorite teacher because she teaches in a fun way. She hardly ever made us do work out of a textbook, so we would play different types of games and do fun quizzes on her smart board.  We played a game that Mrs. Igo asked a question and if you thought you knew the answer, you had to press a button and answer it as quickly as possible before time ran out. One time for a project, we got to pick a Spanish speaking area and make a poster about it with a partner. I picked Puerto Rico, and my partner and I made and painted a mask that Puerto Ricans used to make for specific festivals.

Another reason that Mrs. Igo is my favorite teacher is because she is an interesting person. She likes to travel to Spanish speaking places since she is a fluent speaker. So sometimes in class, Mrs. Igo would show us pictures from her trips. There would be pictures of the food she ate, the people she met, and the things she saw. Mrs. Igo would also tell us stories about the things that happened during her trip and the things she got to do.

The final reason Mrs. Igo is my favorite teacher is because she had lots of fun class parties. One of my favorite parties we’ve had was a Day of the Dead party. We watched a movie called “The Book of Life.” It was an animated movie about the Day of the Dead; it was very interesting to me. We got to make cool masks or dolls that looked like sugar skulls. Mrs. Igo also bought Pan de Muerto (Day of the Dead Bread) and churros from a bakery, and she let all of her students try it. They were delicious!

I think that Mrs. Igo should be the “Educator of the Year” because she always seems happy, she teaches in a fun way, she is an interesting person, and she does hands-on learning activities like mini Day of the Dead festivals. Mrs. Igo stands out from all of the teachers in a good way because she does lots of hands-on things (which I love because I’m a hands-on learner); students don’t just sit in a classroom for the whole class -- they go outside and play games speaking in Spanish. She is also very nice, caring, funny, is always there if you need someone to talk to, and is very enthusiastic about teaching Spanish. I had Mrs. Igo as my Spanish teacher from sixth through eighth grade, and I looked forward to her class every day for all of those three years.