Two Recent New College Grads Awarded Spanish Government Teaching Assistantships

June 22, 2011—Two recent New College of Florida graduates will travel to Spain to teach on a Spanish Government English Language Teaching Assistantship for 2011-2012. Leandra Argyros, of New Port Richey, Fla., will teach in Cesuras, a small town in Galicia, Spain. Sarah Iacobucci, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will teach in Madrid. Both students graduated in 2011.

Argyros, whose area of concentration at New College was natural sciences, will teach first graders English and science. “I’d like to pursue higher education in nutrition and immunology/microbiology, but I’m not sure what sort of functional degree I want,” she says, adding, “I’m excited about improving my Spanish. Being bilingual is a plus no matter what field I end up going into.”

While in Galicia, she plans to attend the Primavera festival in Barcelona, take the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and learn about Spain’s music. “I want to get a nice little stringed guitar in my travels, and maybe trade English lessons for guitar lessons,” she says.

Iacobucci will teach English to elementary school students in Madrid. At New College, her concentration was in sociology and Spanish.

The Spanish Government Teaching Assistantship grants are renewable for a second year. Misha Rene Wylie, of Flowery Branch, Ga., graduated from New College in 2010. Her previously held Spanish Government Teaching Assistantship has been renewed, allowing her to continue to teach English to students in Barcelona.

The Spanish Government English teaching assistantship program is an academic “continuing education” grant provided by the Ministry of Education in Spain. The program sends over 2,000 American and Canadian participants each year to teach English and North American culture in Spanish public K-12 schools.

For more information, contact the Office of Public Affairs at (941) 487-4153 or email [email protected].