Walking through the school halls, some students spot a familiar face: their former Spanish teacher from Rocky Run Middle School. Alongside the freshmen, English Speakers of Other Languages teacher Ada Nazario Cuin makes her CHS debut.

Before teaching ESOL, Nazario Cuin taught Spanish for eight years, including seven in Spotsylvania County, an hour south of Chantilly. In her first year teaching ESOL, Nazario Cuin aims to help her students feel comfortable speaking English. 

“I want [my students] to be able to walk around and feel confident in their classes and with their classmates who also speak English,” Nazaio Cuin said. 

In addition to teaching a new subject this year, Nazario Cuin is exploring different teaching methods, incorporating digital tools like Kahoot, Quizlet and WayGround, as well as videos. 

“Whatever new tools I find, I try them out with my students; sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t,” Nazario Cuin said. “I use [videos] interactively…I’ll play a video then pause it so we can discuss, ask questions and give examples.” 

In her free time, Nazario Cuin enjoys watching Netflix series in different languages to learn new languages while exploring different cultures.

“I love to watch Hindi, Polish, Danish, Russian, Swedish, Finnish, Middle Eastern and African countries ‘series and movies,” Nazario Cuin said. “I also love to watch productions in French and German with subtitles in Spanish so I can practice those languages and learn from different countries that also speak those languages.”

Not only does Nazario Cuin experience different cultures through Netflix, but also through her love of traveling around the world. 

“I’ve been to places that interested me because of historical reasons or because of my interest in the language spoken and the culture,” Nazario Cuin said. “I’ve also been to France, Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Egypt, Greece, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Martinique, St. Maarten, Barbados and most recently, like last Summer, I went to Sweden.”

Throughout the year, Nazario Cuin hopes to further integrate into the Chantilly community. 

“So far, my colleagues and students have been very collaborative and very kind,” Nazario Cuin said. “A goal for me is to continue becoming more familiar with the procedures and routines specific to Chantilly, so I can feel even more settled here.”