- January 20, 2025
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For Flagler Palm Coast High School teacher Evana Fretterd, teaching Spanish is about more than nouns and verbs and sentence structure.
"Teaching is providing opportunities to lead, create, and fail without fear. This is accomplished through fostering a growth mindset and encouraging grit. My students know that they may fail at something that they attempt, but I will not let failure be their ultimate result."
— EVANA FRETTERD
“Through Spanish instruction of language and culture, I am creating well-rounded members of the community who will appreciate others with various backgrounds,” Fretterd wrote in her Teacher of the Year statement.
Students arrive in Fretterd’s classes with different levels of Spanish ability: Some don’t know Spanish at all; others are “native speakers,” yet illiterate. Her students are competitive, so she uses games to keep them engaged.
Fretterd chairs the school’s World Language Department, and in 2017-2018 helped create a districtwide curriculum map and pacing guide for Spanish, Italian, French and American Sign Language. She also helps edit the Common District Finals for Spanish; serves as an advisor to FPC’s Student Government Association; and facilitates the Prom Closet, which collects donated formal attire for students.
“Helping others find their purpose to pursue their goals and obtain success is beyond inspiring,” she wrote. “Even though I can’t change the whole world, by positively influencing one person at a time, I have changed a piece of it.”
