Peace Alumna Tyler Luttman Gaviria '02 '04 Named Teacher of the Year by the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Victoria Tyler Luttmann Gaviria '02 '04, the daughter of Victor and Metta Luttmann of Hendersonville, received the 2010 Teacher of the Year award from the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina. This is her fourth year teaching Spanish.

Tyler graduated from Hendersonville High School in 2000 and attended Peace College, receiving her A.A. in 2002 and her B.A. in 2004 in Spanish and Liberal Studies with a Concentration in Anthropology. She then served two years with AmeriCorps where she worked for El Pueblo, Inc., a state wide non-profit dedicated to serving the Latino community.

Tyler was inspired to go into teaching after working with Latino youth and helping them gain access to higher education. She soared through the NCTEACH lateral entry program at NC State University in 2008 and currently teaches at Garner Magnet High School in Wake County. She will graduate this summer from Bennington College in Vermont with a Master's in teaching Spanish as a Second Language.

Tyler has extensive travel experiences as well. While at Peace, she studied abroad in Seville, Spain as well as participated in various summer programs in the Yucatan, Mexico and Oxford, England.  She also interned abroad in Lisbon, Portugal at the U.S. Embassy and interned in Raleigh as the personal assistant to the Vice-Consul at the Consulate of Mexico.

Tyler is very passionate about Spanish language and culture. She performed for several years with an amateur flamenco troop after returning from Spain. She also teaches Zumba®, a mix of Latin American Dance and Aerobics, part-time.

Tyler hopes to show her students that they will no longer see other peoples as "foreigners" but as something familiar through increasing their world views of other languages and cultures, allowing them to break down stereotypes.  She further hopes that her students will foster and encourage understanding and respect for all. 

Peace College is a four-year baccalaureate arts and sciences college that offers a challenging program of study that provides women strong intellectual and personal foundations upon which to build successful and meaningful professional and academic careers. Peace's educational program consistently earns the college rankings in the top 10 percent in several categories of the National Survey of Student Engagement.

SOURCE Peace College