Tonya has worked in a number of capacities at NCSSM. She teaches Spanish and African Studies. She has traveled in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. She loves sharing her enthusiasm for the language and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world with her students. She also enjoys leading international Mini-Term trips so that students can use their newly acquired language skills in the real world, as well as experience first-hand the transformative power of travel. She is fascinated by Atlantic World history; in particular, connections between Africa, Latin America, and Iberian Europe. She is also interested in visual culture, the arts, world music, and pursuing language study in Brazilian Portuguese. Fortunately, she’s been able to combine these various passions and pursuits into a rewarding teaching career here at NCSSM, as well as share her intellectual interests with our creative and inquisitive student body. North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, 1989 BA, Art History, Queens University of Charlotte MA, Spanish Language and Literature, North Carolina State University