Mr. Jose Gomez-Soria is our new Spanish teacher, and he is going into his first year at Glendale High School. He has loved his time so far at our school. “Everyone has been very nice,” he said. “Students engage in the classroom most of the time. My colleagues are very professional and helpful, and I’m having a great time.”

Mr. Gomez was born in southern Spain in a town called Quesada, and he lived there up until he went to college. He moved to the United States for a job at Pomona College, which is one of the Claremont Colleges, where he taught Spanish. The transition was very smooth for him, due to the fact that they hired a lot of people from Europe, so he made friends very easily. 

Mr. Gomez really enjoys exercising and reading. He said, “In my free time, I really enjoy running. I’m training for a half-marathon, but I wish I could say [it’s a] full marathon. But I also enjoy sitting on the balcony and reading.”

According to Mr. Gomez, the job he got at GHS was completely by chance. “I knew I wanted to teach, and as soon as I had the opportunity I started looking for jobs,” he said. “I heard they needed a Spanish teacher here [at GHS], so I applied. Then I saw the school, and I saw the area, and thought this would be a great place to teach and so far it is.” 

Mr. Gomez is really interested in supporting his students. “I’m here to help them,” he said, “because I feel like sometimes students are like, ‘Ugh, another class’ or ‘My teacher wants me to do this.’ But really, it’s a great opportunity to learn, and [I want them to know] that I’m here to help them improve their Spanish.”

For his first few months at GHS, Mr. Gomez has really enjoyed his time here and hopes to keep it that way in the future. If you want to stop by and say hello, just visit him in Room 2338!

Welcome to GHS, Mr. Gomez!