Dr. Seiple finds eager audience for Spanish instruction

Dr. Makenzie Seiple arrived to teach Spanish this year after teaching at the college level since she was 22. 
She previously taught at Longwood University after earning her doctorate at the University of Virginia. 
“I was lucky enough that my contract ended right in the middle of a global pandemic,” she said sarcastically.
Seiple started looking for jobs shortly after her contract ended and colleges were not taking new employees due to the pandemic. She ended up teaching at a public high school last year but that school was not the best fit for her, so she was excited to come and try North Cross. 
She enjoys teaching at the high school level, “You can get better connections with the students at this level,” she said. 
Seiple knew she wanted to be a teacher since she was in high school. After she finished Gettysburg College she went straight to grad school at UVA. 
“After you get your doctorate I think it's sort of expected that you start teaching at a college somewhere,” she said, “so that's what I did.” 
Seiple grew up in western Pennsylvania is a small town right on the Ohio border. Before she started teaching, she did small tutoring jobs with kids while she was in college. She started learning Spanish when she was in 9th grade. 
“Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to start learning Spanish at a very young age like most kids do now.”    
“The instant of watching something click for someone,” this is why she loves teaching people, she said.
    Seiple came to North Cross because she wanted to teach high level Spanish. At North Cross, since the kids here start learning Spanish at such a young age, by the time they get to high school they are already at such an advanced level. 
“All of these kids have the possibilities to start taking more classes because of their high level in Spanish.”