Teacher Spotlight Abbas enjoys bond with A-P community

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is an ongoing series that features different educators at Aplington-Parkersburg, and tells the community a little more about them.

PARKERSBURG - Throughout her 19 years at Aplington-Parkersburg, Spanish instructor Bobbi Abbas has taught her own children, her nieces, her nephews, and soon, she’ll be teaching her own grandchildren. But as a teacher in a small community, Abbas says all of her students eventually become like family to her.

“One thing I love about teaching in a small community is how you really get to know kids on a different level,” she said. “I don’t just see them for a little while in class; I see them after school at the store, or at the different sporting events, or during practice for Speech or the school plays. You get to know the kids, and their siblings, and family, and you get to build those bonds with them.”

Abbas has been teaching for 25 years, with 19 of those years being at A-P. Before her time at A-P, she taught for two years at Northeast Hamilton, two years at Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock and two years at Marshalltown.

Originally, Abbas wanted to be an elementary school teacher, but during her time at Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock, she found her love for teaching Spanish as a Spanish teachers' aide.

“I worked with the Hispanic kids, and at night, I would go to their homes and teach their family members how to speak English," Abbas said. "I had a minor in Spanish in college, but I wasn’t super comfortable teaching Spanish until after doing that. The real-life experience of having conversations with them in Spanish really helped me be able to teach Spanish better.”

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