Laura Woford has been named Upper School Spanish teacher in Darlington's world languages department. The Spanish 3 and Spanish 2 Honors teacher has 14 years of experience teaching all ages, from elementary school students to college students and adults. Before coming to Darlington, she served for two years as a medical interpreter at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
“My goal as a teacher is to make the acquisition of a second language fun and achievable, rather than hard—because it really doesn't have to be,” said Woford. “I start each year seeing where the students are individually, on their own levels, and then we build from there.”
Woford holds a B.A. in Art from the University of Southern Indiana, an M.A. in Spanish from Indiana State University and a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law. She has also participated in post-graduate studies in Latin American History at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela and Ph.D. studies in Spanish at Indiana University. She holds Alternative Certification for Secondary Education from Wichita State University.
Woford is a staunch supporter of students actively learning from mistakes in the classroom and going outside of their comfort zone.
"Why always do what you are comfortable with? You've got to keep growing and learning,” she said. “We are not here to stagnate and just sit around.”
Woford is also a proponent of reaching beyond the confines that are sometimes created by classrooms to have her students work closely with those in other grades.
“I look forward to integrating the Upper School kids with the younger ones. The more Spanish we can ‘give’ to the little students the better they will be,” she said. “It’s about taking advantage of that time of development and making it fun.”
Some time before coming to Rome, Woford first became acquainted with Darlington as the mother of boarding students. She and her husband, Jeff, are the parents of Noah ('17) and Philip ('18), who both live in Summerbell House.
“To send them to school here was probably one of the single-hardest decisions I have made,” explained Woford. “What got me through was knowing how much they loved it here. There was such a network of support. The quality of staff that you find at Darlington and their capacity for caring is amazing.”
Woford’s husband will be relocating to Rome later in the year, and she could not be more happy and ready to have everyone in the same community again.
"I'm elated and I cannot put into words how excited I am to be here," she added.
In her free time, Woford enjoys painting in acrylic and watercolor, writing calligraphy, hiking, and spending time outdoors.
She lives on campus in the Faculty Apartments.
