Spanish Teacher
A Spanish and music educator, Alissa Settembrino finds creative and engaging ways to integrate her music and language background into her teaching. She previously worked as a band director in New Jersey, where she promoted bilingualism in the music department to serve the community’s language diversity. Alissa holds a BM in Music Education from Ithaca College, and master’s degrees in Ethnomusicology (MM) and Latin American Studies (MA) from the University of Arizona where she held a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. During her time at UofA, Alissa also taught undergraduate Spanish courses in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
In addition to teaching, Alissa’s music and language skills led her to pursue unique field research opportunities in Ecuador and Costa Rica, as well as work in Madrid, Spain. These professional experiences have molded Alissa’s commitment to help students discover connections between their language studies and other academic interests, to motivate critical thinking and innovative action in their current and future endeavors.
Email: asettembrino@newrootsschool.org