Teacher Helping Students Thrive — With Edible Crickets

High school Spanish teacher Carla Hogue wants "the language to come alive" for her students. Unique opportunities include offering students Spanish delicassies like prosciutto … if they're lucky.

"One of the customs in Mexico is that they eat crickets," she said. "So, I brought in some crickets and my kids ate them."

The Spanish teacher at Goose Creek High School in Goose Creek, S.C., is one of three finalists for South Carolina Spanish Teacher of the Year. The winner will be announced Nov. 10.

The award is presented each year by the Sigma Delta Pi chapters at the College of Charleston and the Citadel. Hogue is the first Berkeley County educator nominated for the award in more than a decade.

She is actually a graduate of Goose Creek, one of handful that returned to the school to teach. But Hogue didn't take Spanish.

"I took French," she said, noting her French teacher would make Paris come alive in the classroom with authentic foods and creative programs. "For all of us, it was an amazing experience."

Now, Hogue is making Latin America and Spain come alive for her students. She  has had several students who have graduated and gone on to pursue a degree in teaching.

One former student who moved after a year of Spanish recently reached out to her. "I got a letter from him — all in Spanish — telling me that I inspired him to continue his study," she said.

Hogue has been teaching for eight years, starting out at College Park Middle School, where she set up the Berkeley County's first middle school Spanish program.

"They didn't have a curriculum or anything," she said. "I went into a blank trailer with nothing on the walls. I had to create everything."

After the School Bell

Hogue also works for the students and the community outside of the classroom.

With co-worker Mahwish McIntosh, Hogue coordinates the school's Renaissance program, mentoring students in community involvement and academic achievement. A recent blood drive hosted by the group brought in a school record for donations.

Hogue also translates for patients at the Medical University of South Carolina. She became interested in the program after assisting her mother when she was diagnosed with Lupus.

"Her having to go to those appointments and seeing that there was no one there to help inspired me," Hogue said. "It's a little hard detaching yourself from that, but I feel the community needs it."

One of her favorite jobs is serving as the faculty for her advisement — the early morning class we used to call homeroom. Hogue's class is filled with students who speak a language other than English — including Italian, Vietnamese, Tegalla, Spanish and Portuguese.

"We really focus on helping those kids become a part of the school," she said. "Giving them the school spirit and the school experience that, outside, they sometimes don't get."

At the back of the room, there's a large poster of a diploma with hands reaching toward it, each colored in the flag of the students nationality.

"They speak a different language and so many times they're told they won't graduate, but they do," Hogue said. "They're just amazing kids that sometimes get overlooked."

Administrative opportunities may come along, but Hogue says that she isn't interested.

"I've said it a million times, I don't think there is anywhere else I want to be than in a classroom," she said. "I feel that I get more from them then they do from me. Everyday, they never cease to amaze me. You see little miracles every day."