What did the nut say to the other nut when playing tag? I’ll cashew. That’s Senora Stephanie Ward in a nutshell (
J
) – always quick to make a joke, have fun, and make others smile. Senora Ward teaches Spanish I and II at VCHS and also teaches at St. Clare, but interestingly, Spanish isn’t the only language she can teach or speak. As a Battle Mountain High School (BMHS) student, she excelled at French under Ms. Cartmill and developed her interest in languages.
So what was Senora Ward like “back in the day?” BMHS was much smaller – with graduating classes around 90 – so many students participated in everything. For Senora Ward, she played volleyball, skied Nordic, and ran track. On the fine arts side, she played the flute and was a drum majorette in the marching band. To top it off, she was crowned Homecoming Queen probably dancing that evening to Howard Jones’ “
Things Can Only Get Better
.”
After high school, Senora Ward attended CSU but graduated from University of Central Oklahoma with a Major in Education and Minor in Spanish. While at CSU, she had a work-study job at a science lab cleaning the cages of cats with leukemia. She quickly learned that wasn’t a career she wanted to pursue. Around the same time, she had a job working with children and things clicked – unite her love for people (particularly students) and Spanish. Senora Ward later spent time in Raleigh, NC teaching Spanish and Social Studies but longed to return home to the Vail Valley where she was born and raised (her mom and dad were early Vail pioneers meeting where they worked at The Red Lion).
While in North Carolina, her Christian faith was awakened and she experienced a strong sense of “calling” to teach that fuels her to this day. As she expressed it, “I felt a deep need to give back.” And for today she says, “Of course I want my students to be able to speak, read, and write Spanish – to be able to conjugate ser and estar – but more importantly I want them to be good people – to love others well.”
Senora Ward’s hobbies and interests are eclectic – rabbits (her first one was named Lou Holtz), chickens, kick boxing, skiing, tennis, golf, and mountain biking (including bombing down Vail’s Radio Flyer). She’s also a devoted mother to her girls – Bella (Class of 2023) and Zoey (Class of 2026).
So here’s a joke for you Senora Ward – How do you catch a unique rabbit? Unique up on it.
Senora Ward, lives of purpose…
