Macias halts master teacher career to take over teaching Spanish classes with her positive energy and passionate drive to teach. 

Since former Perry Meridian High School Spanish teacher Laura Holloway left Perry last semester, her class was taught by a former PMHS alumni for two weeks. Now, former master teacher Brenna Macias has filled that void, being hired as the replacement Spanish teacher for Holloway’s old position.

Macias began teaching at the high school level in the year 2000 at The Key School before becoming a master teacher at Perry for two and a half years. Now, she teaches Spanish 1 and 2. 

Macias’ passion for teaching began when she attended multiple colleges. She went to IUPUI for her Spanish degree, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods for her teaching certificate and Indiana Wesleyan University for her Masters in Education. While in college, she read a story that inspired her about a man who had to sacrifice his own education to become a farm worker and grew up with rough hands, compared to his previous acquaintances.   

“As an adult, he met one of his former classmates in town, and when they shook hands, the uneducated man realized how hard and broken his own hands felt in comparison to the soft hands of the educated man,” Macias continues. “My own father’s hands were always hard and broken by the physical labor he did to make ends meet. My father was illiterate, and I was reading this story in my second language. At that moment, I realized that the freedom and power my education had given me were something I needed to share.”

Her passion for teaching coincided perfectly with her other passion, Spanish language and culture. She attributes the language to many great aspects of her life and expresses the importance of learning another language and connecting with another culture. She emphasizes the idea that foreign languages can expand many aspects of life and make deep connections that can last a lifetime, bridging gaps between cultures. 

“Spanish and the pursuit of its study have given me close friends, my daughter and a perspective that just can’t be enjoyed without knowing a second language,” she says. “My Spanish has allowed me to view much of the world more intimately than I would have otherwise. It also allows me to empathize with people who are learning English as a second language.” 

“In a world that becomes smaller every day, knowing at least a second language and culture is a necessity,” she says. “It is one of the most enriching things we can do for ourselves.”