OES Spotlight

Carmen Torres Boyle found her role at OES through a serendipitous event. A family in Spain had hired her to find a U.S. boarding school for their child, and one of the schools she visited was OES. By the end of the tour, she wanted to work here. “I realized this was the place for me,” said Señora Boyle. “I knew it right away.” There happened to be a position open, which a Lower School parent told her about, so she applied and was hired immediately.

That was 21 years ago. Since then, Señora Boyle, who holds a degree in history, a minor in archaeology, and two master’s degrees in Spanish, has taught Spanish at OES. For the last 12 years, she has focused on the Upper School. She loves to share her culture from the Basque country of northern Spain with her students. Her approach to teaching, Boyle says, “Is to make the students feel comfortable, so they love Spanish forever. Because, for me, it is my culture and my passion. It is my family. These kids become part of my family. So I make it fun, and I make it accessible.”

One of the hardest parts of learning a language is being able to speak it. The philosophy at OES is, the more speaking, the better. “That is the main focus of our whole language program, in Lower, Middle, and Upper School,” Boyle said. “That’s what makes us so successful! We make the kids talk, even in Spanish 1; we put them in pairs, we put them in small groups, and we make them talk, always talk. It’s not about reading and doing worksheets. It’s about using the language.”

One of the ways students practice is to “walk and talk,” where they stroll around campus in pairs and are given a question to answer. They talk to their partner for a minimum of a minute or two, then they switch partners. It provides the students a chance to practice in front of only one person, “So they are more comfortable in making mistakes,” said Boyle. “And they get to explore. I walk by and make a correction or two, but it is very casual.” The students’ confidence in their speaking ability grows through this regular practice.

Last spring, Boyle was contacted by the television program “Vascos por el Mundo,” which was looking for Basque people to interview in Portland. After learning more about the show, she agreed to do it. A film crew came to Portland in June 2024 and filmed Señora Boyle visiting points of interest in Northwest Portland like Salt & Straw, engaging in Rose Festival events at the waterfront, and teaching her AP Spanish class at OES. The show also filmed a few minutes of OES graduation at Trinity Cathedral. The clip in the classroom showed the students dancing with one another and singing along to a song in Spanish. Check out the program.

“After that show aired, I got emails from teachers all asking me the same question: ‘Why are your students so happy?’” laughed Boyle. “In my class, we use the word  A-M-A-B-L-E, which means kindness, for everything,” she continued. “I tell them, everyone who comes into my class, you’ve got to be kind, you’ve got to be kind to yourself and be kind to others, and the students lean in. Then the whole environment becomes a supportive environment in which to learn.”

Señora Boyle often comes up with novel ways to inspire students, and her World Language Department colleagues are always game for whatever she dreams up. One of her ideas was the “Building Community Through a World Art Project,” where Upper School language students were invited to explore their curiosity about artists from Spain, Latin America, France, and China. They started with a silhouette of the OES mascot Aardy, created by Upper School Art Teacher Dustin Price. The teachers sparked curiosity in their students through lessons focused on the culture of artistic styles in each language. Students then created their artistic representation of Aardy in the style of their chosen world-famous artist. “The student's reflections on the artist, their curiosity, and their creativity were displayed in the World Language Hall, which became a truly fabulous Gallery Art Walk, vibrant and colorful,” said Boyle. 

Señora Boyle is also a leader on Winterim trips. In 2023, she and Profe Maria, as Boyle calls her, led a group of students to Iceland to explore the naturally occurring geothermal energy the country captures for clean energy production. She shared, “During the trip to Iceland, you felt the earth being alive under our feet, reminding us that we are part of a story that began thousands of years ago. And when we saw the Northern Lights … it was magical.”

This week, Señora Boyle and her team, with the help of Dustin Price, created a display of monarch butterflies to celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). In Mexico, the arrival of monarch butterflies during Día de los Muertos represents the souls of departed ancestors returning to visit their loved ones. Boyle shared, “Some believe that butterflies connect us to our loved ones, celebrating their spirits and legacy on this special day. So the students are not only taking the pictures with the wings but also writing meaningful messages in their target language (Spanish, Chinese, French) to their loved ones who are no longer with us. They are messages full of appreciation and positivity.”

Señora Boyle appreciates every aspect of her role at OES, from having flexibility with her curriculum to the enthusiasm of her students, to the support of her colleagues. “Every part of OES that you touch, you feel loved and supported. And I have my World Language team. You go into that office and it is a happy place. And that spreads out to the students and the whole community.”