Photo by Kris Campos

Young Spanish III, AP IV, and AP V teacher and AP grader Kris Campos stands on some rocks at a historic site in France. Campos’ grandparents spoke German, so she took a few German classes in elementary school but did not learn much of the language past that. In high school, however, Campos began learning French and continued to learn more in college. “I had an aunt in France [who] worked in the fashion world, and she was gorgeous,” Campos said. “I wanted to understand what she was saying, so when I went to college I took French. And I loved it. I took French one, two, three, four, and then I did my junior year abroad in France, and studying abroad was absolutely life-changing. France was [my] first life-changing experience because I had never been out of the country before, [and] I met people from all over the world.”

Sinking her feet into the foreign soil, she stares in wonder and awe at the new world in front of her. She is surrounded by new people speaking a language different from the one back home, delicious smells from the pastries lining the stores along the street and beautiful monuments and historic sights soaring above it all. Kris Campos is about to experience something that will change her life forever: a study abroad in France. 

As a college student spending time abroad for the first time, Campos developed a passion for languages that fueled her desire to become a teacher during her trip to France. Campos has been teaching for 27 years in total, with 16 years at the school, where she teaches Spanish III Advanced, Spanish IV AP, and Spanish V AP. Campos grew up in a small town in Kansas where, unlike many schools where most students are only able to focus on one club or sport, Campos had many opportunities because of the small size of her high school. 

“High school was really fun for me,” Campos said. “I played tennis, I played basketball, I ran track, I was in the band, I was on the dance team, I was in theater, and I was on the student council. [Because my high school was small] you just did everything or you did nothing, and I was one of the ones that did everything.”

Campos’ grandparents spoke German, so she took a few German classes in elementary school but did not learn much of the language past that. In high school, however, Campos began learning French and continued to learn more in college. 

“I had an aunt in France [who] worked in the fashion world, and she was gorgeous,” Campos said. “I wanted to understand what she was saying, so when I went to college I took French. And I loved it. I took French one, two, three, four, and then I did my junior year abroad in France, and studying abroad was absolutely life-changing. France was [my] first life-changing experience because I had never been out of the country before, [and] I met people from all over the world.”

After her study-abroad experience in France, Campos said she wanted to learn an additional language, and she decided to learn Spanish. 

“While I was in France, I had Spanish-speaking friends, and I also wanted to make myself more marketable as a teacher, so when I came back [to the United States] I started taking Spanish [classes],” Campos said. “I tested out of some [classes], and then I studied abroad in Mexico after my student teaching.”

According to Campos, studying abroad was one of the things that helped most when learning Spanish and French.

“It’s a well-known fact that immersion is a great way to learn,” Campos said. “I got to where I had advanced levels of proficiency [in Spanish] through studying abroad because [the language] comes at you from all directions all the time. You have to use Spanish to get to school, you have to use Spanish to go to a restaurant, [and] you have to use Spanish to go to a movie. It’s survival and that’s how [for] someone like me, [speaking] can become very natural.”

After going through several transformative experiences during her foreign studies, Campos believes that all students should study abroad if they want to master another language, and learn about a culture other than their own.

“I think [student exchange programs] should be required for everyone,” Campos said. “You learn a lot about other cultures and the way other people think, which develops empathy and tolerance. You also understand yourself, your way of thinking, and your culture better as well. If you never leave the place where you were born, you have a very limited view of the world. Travel doesn’t do it because you go to the tourist sites and you’re still in a bubble. You [have] to interact with the people.”

At the beginning of her career in teaching as a student teacher, Campos was encouraged by her cooperating teacher to apply to be a College Board Advanced Placement, or AP grader. So, after three years of teaching Spanish AP, Campos applied and now has the unique opportunity to be an AP grader for the speaking section of the Spanish IV AP test.

“[Being an AP test grader] has absolutely made me a better teacher,” Campos said.” I know exactly what [the test graders are] looking for. I’ve listened to thousands and thousands and thousands of samples, but also I’ve talked to a lot of people that grade the parts that I don’t grade. I spend a week [each year] focused on the AP test, so [I] always have some notes to bring back for what to change next year.”

Campos has since advanced from being a grader to table leader, where she has several additional responsibilities.

“I’m in leadership, [and] what we do on leadership days is we find samples [and] benchmarks,” Campos said. “[For example, we find a] prime example of a five, write the justification, and that becomes training for the people who grade it. So we have a benchmark five, four, three, two, [and] one. Then we have some samples that we score [for new graders who] go through a training process [where] they have to score [tests] that we’ve already scored and discussed thoroughly.”

Because years have passed since her student exchanges and professional schooling, Campos maintains her knowledge of Spanish by surrounding herself with Spanish media, and she encourages others to do the same.

“The key for anyone to keep up [with] their language is to consume as much [of it] as you can,” Campos said. “[You should] follow people on social media that speak Spanish [and] watch movies and TV in Spanish. It takes effort, [but] you have to just keep doing it.”

Campos loves languages and she hopes that her students can share her passion for them through her teaching.

“I love hanging out with teenagers,” Campos said. “I love how they can still be goofy and get excited about [getting] a sticker like an elementary school kid and a piece of candy on their birthday. I’m really passionate about traveling and culture and languages, and I enjoy opening up people’s eyes to] [other] parts of the world and hopefully inspiring [my students] to keep studying languages.”