Mrs. Gursky salsas into the Spanish department

Mrs. Gursky

Kalliopi Alexis, The Delphi Staff, Class of '22
February 11, 2019

Delaware Valley Regional High School has welcomed a dozen new teachers this year, and among them is Mrs. Kari Gursky, a new Spanish teacher who plans to share her passion for Spanish with her students.

Growing up in Flemington, New Jersey, Mrs. Gursky wasn’t always enthusiastic about Spanish. However, during her high school career at Hunterdon Central, she had one teacher who sparked her interest. “I became interested in Spanish when I was in my Honors Spanish 4 class in high school. My teacher had us work on several research projects and had us discuss real world issues related to topics such as politics and the environment,” Mrs. Gursky said. Before she came to Del Val, her first teaching experience was at Ridge High School where she earned her teaching certificate. “I then worked in a K-8 school in Hunterdon County for four years as well as two middle schools in different parts of New Jersey for two years each.” Furthermore, during college her love for Spanish brought her to Salamanca, Spain where she attended the Universidad de Salamanca for a summer. She also spent time travel- ing the country, and some of her favorite places were Salamanca, Toledo, and Santiago de Compostela.

Mrs. Gursky plans to “bring light” and “energy” to her department. Mrs. Gursky was excited to take the job at Del Val. “I missed teaching in a high school. I really enjoy being able to talk about more vocabulary. I like having conversations with students about the topics that are important to them and can challenge them and help them engage in these discussions.”

Spanish is not Mrs. Gursky’s only passion, however. She loves sports, especially running, and is a fan of the Warrior Dash competitions. She is also a mother who finds inspiration from her family. In Spanish, she loves the grammar and the mechanics of the language and hopes that her students can also find interest in the subject areas they love. “I want students to know that language and the content that I teach, I really do care about their success” Mrs. Gursky said.

As someone who has been successful in the area of Spanish, Mrs. Gursky wants to give advice to students taking language classes. Her advice is to participate, study, and to ask questions. “Spanish class became a way to explore different cultures and gain different perspectives. Every Spanish class I took… only increased my interest in the language and culture.”