Academics

Educator Profiles

María Ondina Bair

Spanish Teacher
HS Academics
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

I have an MA in Spanish Literature, with an emphasis in Southwest Studies from New Mexico Highlands University. Before coming to Santa Fe Indian School, I taught at both high school and college levels. My high school teaching experiences were at New Mexico Academy for Mathematics and Sciences and Desert Academy; the colleges I taught at were Santa Fe Community College and New Mexico Highlands University.

Here at SFIS, I am a Spanish teacher, and I teach Spanish II. After my many years of teaching, I feel true delight is when a teacher, student, and subject matter come together to make the classroom a wonderful and exciting place. I incorporate creative work, a stimulating environment, and provide the setting in which a child feels welcome and knows I am here to enhance and develop student’s self-worth.

When the students finish the year, they always say, “Thank you Señora.” They are grateful and say I am always there to help them learn when they have difficulty. This makes me feel much appreciated and motivates me to keep coming back to SFIS. It shows me the students value learning the Spanish language, which I think is important because we live in New Mexico, where Spanish is one of the primary languages and a rich heritage. Also, learning the Spanish language helps in any occupation; knowing Spanish helps communication.

My passion is to write in my native language, Spanish, to express myself, and to inform, educate and orient the public about current events in the world at large. I am very interested in Hispanic literature, and I would like to use more literature so students can compare and contrast authors like Jesus Moroles (Hispanic author) and Bob Haozous (Native author), or Frida Kahlo (from Mexico) in comparison with Amrita Sher-Gil (from India). This will use the students’ research, reading, writing, and thinking skills all in one unit.