Foreign Language Team

Teams

• Leadership

• Arts

• Counseling

• ELA

• Foreign Language

• Math

• PE & Health

• Support Staff

• Science

• Social Studies

• Learning Specialists

• College Readiness

Esther 

Esther Alicia Kempthorne was born and educated in Mexico. She earned a degree in Business Administration at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, and maintains a professional Spanish Certificate K-12. Esther has taught Spanish for over six years at a high school level and has also worked with students from K - 8 grade as a mathematics interventionist in a bilingual program. She believes effective teaching brings everybody together, and aims to bring an open mind, respect, a positive attitude, and high expectations to the classroom each day. Esther will bring consistency, diligence, and warmth to the job in the hope that she can ultimately inspire and encourage such traits in the students at WESS as well.  Esther is convinced that all students can achieve at the highest level with dedication, perseverance, and hard work. Esther resides in New Jersey with her husband Nathan and their chihuahua, Bolt, and is the proud mother of Kiara, a mechanical engineer, and Natalia, a senior at NYU.

Lindsey

Lindsey was born and raised on the Jersey Shore and moved to New York City to attend Wagner College in 2009. At Wagner, Lindsey’s keen interest of the inner workings of the human mind, emotions, and adolescent development earned her a B.A. in psychology with a minor in art. Always curious about the cultures and languages of the world, Lindsey moved to the quaint, picturesque mountain village of Ubrique, Spain, where she worked as an English language teacher in both an elementary and secondary bilingual school for the 2014-2015 academic year. It was through this experience that Lindsey found she could combine her passion for the Spanish language with psychology by serving as a mentor for adolescents through a career in education.

Upon returning to NYC in 2015, Lindsey dedicated herself to advancing her existing knowledge of Spanish through classes at both Instituto Cervantes and Hunter College. She eventually earned her Master’s degree in Spanish Education in 2021 from Brooklyn College. Outside of school, she is an avid reader and enjoys cooking, traveling, playing tennis, and physical and mental wellness. Lindsey is excited to return to WESS for her second year to continue to build strong relationships with students and make language learning and the celebration of Hispanic/Latinx culture fun, meaningful, and accessible for all learners. ¡Vamanos!

Mariana

Mariana Vásquez was born and educated in the Dominican Republic.  In her early childhood, she used to work as a babysitter. When she graduated from High school she asked herself the questions, “What am I going to study? What am I good for?” This is how she started in the education field, and  earned a Bachelor Degree in Liberal Arts Education with Spanish concentration at Organization & Methods college, located at Moca city, Dominican Republic. After immigrating to the United States in 2009 with her big son in her lap,  she faced language barriers because she did not speak and write English, which made her go back to college in 2016. Mariana was able to understand people talking, but she wanted to get her English language skills to the level she could communicate with people at the same level she does in Spanish. After applying to college and failing many admission tests due to her lack of English Skills, she started to build her language English Skills at Cuny Language Immersion Program (CLIP), at Bronx Community college. After she got herself ready for college, she applied for a Master Degree at City College of New York where she earned her Master of Science in Education that prepared her to teach and help others to follow their purpose as  she did through education. Today, she raised her two children in Harlem with the help of her mother.