Michael Vossen joins the Lick-Wilmerding High School community as a new Spanish teacher, teaching Spanish 3 Honors and Spanish 2.
Known as Mr. Vossen to his 9th-grade advisees and Señor Vossen or Mozzarella Miguel to his students, Vossen is from Sebastopol, which he described as “The farthest reaching corner of the Bay Area.” In Sebastopol, he grew up on a fruit farm and attended a bilingual elementary school, and later graduated from the only high school in town.
Vossen lived in Córdoba, Spain, for his 6th grade year. He and his sister were “popped in there,” he said, forcing them to adapt to a new type of Spanish called Andaluz. In high school, he also spent a year in Argentina before heading to University of California, Davis for college. In his final year of undergraduate studies, Vossen learned Portuguese, which enabled him to participate in the Fulbright program–the United States government’s flagship international academic program–and teach English in Rio de Janeiro. The polylingual Vossen also taught himself Italian, following a canceled trip to Italy due to covid-19.
He rejects the notion that “language is the means and ends” of a language class. Instead, he said, “[language] is more of the vehicle that takes us into the culture.” For example, his Spanish 3H class is exploring Bad Bunny’s new album and the Puerto Rican diaspora, tackling ideas of identity using the Spanish language. This style of teaching prioritizes conversational language, meaning students are speaking and forming thoughts in Spanish rather than thinking in English and translating into Spanish.
Vossen loves to rock climb, which he showcases on his YouTube channel @migwhale, along with other videos he would love to share with the wider LWHS community. He also encouraged any students interested in forming a Salsa/Latin Dance Club to reach out to him, as he loves these dances. Continuing in his LWHS tenure, Vossen is excited to see what the Public Purpose Program days have in store for him and his advisees.
