Department Chair and Spanish Instructor:  Sister M.Catherine Mindling, RSM. (BA- Georgian Court College; MA- Villanova University; TESOL - American University)

A  Sister of Mercy of the Americas,  Mid-Atlantic Community, Sister is the chairperson of the department, moderator of the San Martín Chapter of the National Spanish Honor Society, and a member of the National Association of Teachers of  Spanish and Portuguese.   Certified in French and Spanish, Sister has taught at Saint John's since the 1985-1986 school term.  Since 1990, Sister has received awards for outstanding teaching. In the spring of 2007 she was given the Tim Russert, Sister M. Lucille, RSM Outstanding Teaching Award for the Archdiocese of Washinton.   Besides working at Saint John's, Sister has conducted immersion programs for students and adults, taught adult ESL classes, and high school French, Religion and Spanish.  Sister Catherine translates documents from English to Spanish for The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, including the book Praying with Catherine McAuley, by Sisters Helen Marie Burns, and Sheila Carney, RSM. Further information: Sister Catherine's Homepage~

Spanish Instructor:  Mrs Helen Méndez (University of Maryland MA)

Señora Méndez is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, where she received her Masters in Second Language Acquisition and Application, Spanish. 

As part of her graduate work, Señora Méndez taught two sections of intensive beginning Spanish, as well as an upper-level Spanish phonetics course.  She has traveled to Argentina, Spain, Mexico and Guatemala, and wants to do more traveling soon! She has co-moderated the Spanish Club, gone on Spanish trips, sponsored programs to help children in Guatemala and mentored students from the San Miguel School. She is currently teaching Spanish 3 and two levels of Heritage Spanish, a program she initiated at SJC. She is happy to share her love of the Spanish language and culture with all the students. In the Spring of 2007, Helen was awarded the travel award sponsored by the Spanish Embassy and the Washington Post.~

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French Instructor:    Mme Sharyn Sazama-Moreau (University of Maryland MA)

A teacher of French at the High School and College level since 1993, Mme Sazama-Moreau joined SJC in the fall of 2001.  Before that, she taught ESL for one year at the University of Nice, in France, served as the Head of the Foreign Language Department at the Newport School, and was the Foreign Language Representative for the Association of Independent MD Schools’ Fall Conference Committee from 1998-2000.

At SJC, Mme Moreau teaches French I, II, III, and IV-Honors and moderates the French Club and the SJC chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français.   During the summers, she teaches French Immersion Camp to 2nd through 4th graders at the Maret School.   She has an MA from the University of MD in College Park and studied at the Université Paul Valéry, in Montpellier, France. She is a member of ACTFL, AATF, and MFLA.  She has traveled, studied and taught in France and brings a wealth of experience to SJC.
In 2003 and 2007, Mme Moreau travelled with SJC students to Paris, France, Brussels and Amsterdam.

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Spanish Instructor:  Ms. Shannon Egan (Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY, BA) 

A Spanish and Adolescence Education major, Ms. Egan joined the SJC language department staff in the fall of 2008. Originally from Long Island, NY, she is NCATE certified, a member of the New York State Association of Foreign Language teachers, and has had a variety of experiences in the NY State school system. She studied in Segovia, Spain in 2007 and traveled to varous regions of Spain while living with a Spanish family there.

Ms Egan has an outstanding record of offering volunteer services to the Spanish speaking children in Newburg, NY, including the Head Start Program in Spanish.

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Spanish Instructor:  Mrs. Megan Pena-Ariet - (University of Maryland, BA)

A native Washingtonian, Mrs. Pena-Ariet joined the Language department in 2006. In the summer of 2006, she volunteered 6 weeks in the Dominican Republic doing a building project with Habitat for Humanity. She is currently doing course work towards obtaining a Masters Degree from the University of St. Louis, and participating in their summer in Madrid program. Ms. Rector teaches Spanish 1 and Spanish 3.

Ms. Rector also coaches Varsity Field Hockey at SJC and says of the team: "They are a fantastic and energetic bunch." In the Spring of 2008, Ms. Rector co-sponsored a trip with students to Mexico. In addition to teaching Spanish, Ms Rector teaches in the Fine Arts Department. She has also given classes in the San Miguel School including their summer session.

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Spanish Instructor:  Ms. Carolina Covarrubias - (Georgetown University MA)

Originally from Chile, Ms. Covarrubias grew up in the DC area. She joined the language department in 2007 and teaches Spanish I, Spanish II and Readings in Spanish. Ms. Covarrubias travels every year to Chile to visit her family in Santiago. Adding to her international experiences, she has also traveled throughout Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and most of Western Europe. Ms. Covarrubias completed a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies in 2005.

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Spanish Instructor:  Mrs. Natasha Garayta. (University of Pennsylvania BA)

Mrs. Garayta joined the SJC language staff in 2007. She is a native Washingtonian and attended the Holton-Arms school in Bethesda, Maryland. She was a Hispanic Studies major at the University of Pennsylvania and has taught at the Rock Creek International School and with the Latino Education Fund. She has participated in the Spanish Club at SJC and teaches both Spanish 2 and Honors Spanish 4.

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Latin Instructor:  Mr. Tozer T. Hammond - part time instructor (Colgate University, BA)

A graduate of Colgate University, Tozer Hammond is excited to join the community at St. John's and to restart the Latin program. A native of Indiana and a proud Hoosier, Mr. Hammond moved to Washington and began working with the Fulbright Scholars program before having the opportunity to come to St. John's. He has traveled to Mexico, Portugal, the Azores, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe, and studied the material culture of Ancient Rome and Pompeii during his junior year at Colgate. He currently teaches Latin 1 and 2 along with a class in American Literature.