PROFILES IN EDUCATION: XINIA AGEE

This teacher knows, firsthand, what it is like to learn a new language. She is using her own experience to teach her students. - - Donna Poisl

GH Academy teacher brings culture, enthusiasm to Spanish class

Paige Richmond of the Gateway

Xinia Agee knows what it’s like to learn a new language. The 42-year-old was born in Costa Rica and moved to the United States when she was 27, with very little knowledge of English.

At the time, she was working as a counselor at a camp for at-risk youth in Missouri, where many of the students were immigrants from Puerto Rico who spoke Spanish as their first language.

Agee learned English from her husband, who was the camp’s director at the time. They’ve been married for 15 years.

Two years ago, the couple moved to Gig Harbor with their three children, and Agee began to teach Spanish at Voyager Elementary School. She went on to teach at Artondale Elementary before she joined Gig Harbor Academy last year.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.