Spanish teacher Amy Stover has spent a lot of time learning and experiencing the Hispanic culture; indeed, most of her life has been centered around it. 

She grew up in Greenleaf, Wisconsin, on a family dairy farm with her three younger sisters. 

For college she went to UW-Eau Claire for one year and then transferred to St. Norbert College. During this time she earned  a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in accounting and a minor in Spanish. 

She was also able to study in Ecuador for an entire semester while in college, which may have been the “game changer” that eventually landed her here at NDA.

 Stover’s study abroad was based in Quito, but she and her classmates were able to travel to all parts of Ecuador. It was a great start to learning more about the Hispanic culture and their values. 

After college Mrs. Stover started work at Schneider National. Two years into her job the company asked her to go to Mexico to help the accounting department as a financial analyst. She worked there for about nine months. During this time she basically lived in Mexico. 

“I expanded my academic vocabulary in a short amount of time,” said Stover. 

She switched between the Green Bay offices where she worked and Mexico for about another seven years while working at Schneider. She also visited other offices in Monterey, Guadalajara and Mexicali/Tijuana. 

After years of working at Schneider, she started teaching in middle school on January 24, 2005. This means Mrs. Stover has taught Spanish for about 16 years. 

She aims to teach the students the many benefits of learning a second language like Spanish. 

“It can help improve a student’s native language, reading comprehension, ability to multi-task and memory,” Stover said. Learning to speak Spanish also cultivates cultural awareness and appreciation and enhances decision-making. 

Mrs. Stover thinks that in the near future Spanish will be a major part of the American culture, making it even more important to learn now. 

She does a lot of things in her everyday life that involve Hispanic  traditions and cultures. She makes home visits, attends quinceñeras and helps families with community resources. And at NDA, she is an appreciated liaison to the Spanish-speaking parents whose children attend school here.