Thirty-three years—Dale Sperfslage, West Delaware’s Spanish teacher, is retiring after 33 years of teaching, with 25 years at West Delaware.
Throughout his career, Spersflage taught five levels of Spanish.
Of the five Spanish classes, Spanish III is his favorite.
“That’s the first year it’s all in Spanish,” Sperfslage said, “and it’s kind of fun to see how they improve from the start to the finish.”
Sperfslage also enjoys teaching Spanish I.
“You start from scratch with a student, and you can see the growth more,” Sperfslage said. “You can see growth in all levels, but in Spanish I, you can really see it.”
Throughout his 25 years at West Delaware, Sperfslage had a lot of memorable moments. He enjoys learning about the students’ families as they speak about them in Spanish, and playing powderpuff volleyball with the staff and students.
“Another thing I really enjoyed through the years was seeing students’ talents outside of the classroom, whether it be music, speech, plays, or sports,” Sperfslage said.
Rayleigh Heims (12) took three years of Spanish with Sperfslage.
“Mr. Sperfslage was a very fun and engaging teacher,” Heims said. “He brought a lot of interest into his class and actually wanted kids to be there for the right reasons.”
Sperfslage enjoys joking around with the students and staff.
“Mr. Sperfslage has a very humorous vibe to him, and he likes to joke around but also be serious when it’s necessary with class,” Heims said.
Heims enjoyed his class because Sperfslage brought different games for them to play that were in Spanish.
“That switched up the learning for us, and it was really fun to get our class all speaking in Spanish with games,” Heims said.
Although Spearfslage’s main goal was to teach Spanish, he also wanted to teach the students life skills such as responsibility, hard work, and kindness.
Sperfslage enjoys the staff at West Delaware because they always find a way to joke around.
“I’m going to miss that for sure,” Sperfslage said.
Sperfslage plans to continue working after his retirement.
“In the summers, I mow lawns for the city of Monticello or public properties, so I plan to continue that,” Sperfslage said. “I hope to come back and be a substitute teacher.”
Sperfslage is also looking for another job.
“I definitely don’t want to sit at home and do nothing,” Sperfslage said. “I want to stay busy.”
Sperfslage has enjoyed teaching because he sees students improve and has taught them an important skill.
“You don’t know necessarily when you’re going to need Spanish, but it seems to pop up in everybody’s life at some time or another,” Sperfslage said. “It makes me feel good knowing that I’m teaching a life skill.”
