Exceptional educators–en español
Photo of William Huntsinger and his guitar (Ryan Win-Ruan / The Puma Prensa)
By Ryan Win-Ruan, News Editor
Since human civilization has existed, education has always been the key to power and justice. And with the many conflicts and controversies today, maintaining a well-informed perspective on the world is more important than ever.
William Huntsinger, a Spanish teacher at Maria Carrillo High School, is among those who have dedicated their lives to furthering the education of the youth. But even though he has been teaching for decades, Huntsinger admits that he always looks forward to learning new things; despite the fact that he is a teacher, “I have also learned a lot from my students,” he says.
Education has always been a calling for Huntsinger, who states that “teaching found me,” and that he has “always been an idealist.” To him, helping others was a key part of his character, and, although he had a slight aversion to medical work, he still sought to find a job that would reach people.
Discovering his passion for teaching was a vivid experience for him, and, by his own account, “I remember having an epiphany, it was like a knowing, in my mind, I was going to be a teacher.”
He initially planned to be a grammar school teacher, but he picked up some Spanish during a surfing trip, and quickly fell in love with the language. After three years of living in Spain, he found that he wanted to help others learn Spanish. Huntsinger firmly believes that learning a foreign language is beneficial, not only for job prospects, but also for a deeper understanding and appreciation of foreign cultures.
However, teaching has not always been an easy task. He felt that there used to be “a lot of support, especially in the beginning” which allowed him to “build a solid pedagogical foundation and helped to build a skillset that would help me survive the seas of modern teaching and a modern classroom.”
Although there were significant resources dedicated to training teachers in the 1990s and 2000s, Huntsinger notes that the current climate is risky. The budget crisis which Santa Rosa School District faces is perhaps the most prevalent challenge to local education, which Huntsinger describes as “subtle over time; gradual, but noticeable,” and has slowly ballooned into “less money, less time, less support for education.” Ever-outspoken about the importance of schooling, he believes that education “changes with culture…and societal challenges as well.”
Despite the problems, Huntsinger is a strong advocate for teaching as a career, especially since he firmly believes that “society needs education. People don’t realize how important it is…to have the support, to have education in our communities, it’s what keeps the world stabilized.”
For him, motivation comes from “connecting with people who give me a sense of purpose.” Huntsinger remains dedicated to teaching, and plans to write songs to teach others through music and after he retires in order to continue “using skills to help people.” Music, for him, is an integral part of his life, and something he tries to incorporate into his classes whenever possible, both as entertainment and education.
Huntsinger accepts that his career and life’s work is eventually coming to a close, and that, for him at least, “time goes by faster than we think.” He is grateful for all that he’s learned through the years, and that, occasionally, “we need people who are willing and passionate to come and take the place of those of us who have done our tour of duty.”