Ms. Burress poses in front of Steele Hall, the language building, where she taught Spanish for over three decades.
Ms. Nancy Burress has had a crucial impact on the School’s Language Department over the last 35 years. During her time at Choate, Ms. Burress was the Spanish Department Head and taught Spanish levels 100 through 500, focusing primarily on the 200 and 400 levels. Over the years, she has made conversations an integral part of her Spanish classes, saying, “I will especially remember days of lively conversation in Spanish, punctuated by lots of laughter. It’s all about communication and, hopefully, enjoying Spanish and wanting to learn more.”
Shortly after coming to the School, Ms. Burress started a fourth-year Spanish literature course. Bladen Hawthornthwaite ’24, a student in that class, shared that her favorite part was acting out scenes from the books they read: “It’s always really fun to watch and participate in.” Occasionally, Ms. Burress would also invite other Spanish teachers to speak to her students. For example, Spanish teacher Ms. Azucena Alvarez Alonso taught bachata, a dance style originating in the Dominican Republic, to the Spanish 450 class.
Having backpacked through parts of Southeast Asia and South America for a year prior to her arrival at Choate, Ms. Burress has always had a passion for traveling. Since 1992, she has facilitated opportunities for students to immerse themselves in Spanish culture through study-abroad programs. She was the Co-Director of Choate Rosemary Hall programs in Spain from 2005 to 2020 and the Director of Choate Rosemary Hall programs in Mexico during the mid-nineties. One of her fondest memories of traveling with students was when she and her students acted as toreros, or bullfighters, being chased by real bulls in. “We ran around in the arena hurrying behind barriers when charged, all of this to the delight of the host families who watched us from the stands,” she reminisced.
On campus, Ms. Burress cherishes the interactions she has had with her students both in and out of the classroom. She has been an adviser in numerous dorms, and still remembers having to chase a bat out of the Archbold third-floor common room when she resided there.
To mark one of her final term-end experiences at Choate, she invited students in her upper-level classes to her house to make Pastel Chabela and Mexican hot chocolate based on a recipe they read in a novel this winter. However, the experience took an unexpected turn. “I took my edition of a much-loved Mexican novel, by then falling apart, and threw it in the fire. I told my students that I was retiring and intended to read many other novels,” Ms. Burress said. Hawthornthwaite described the experience as “completely unexpected and so funny.”
After leaving Choate, Ms. Burress plans to travel, read books, spend time with friends and family, and contribute to causes she cares about in Wallingford and beyond. “I will always cherish and certainly miss learning so much with my students,” she said, reflecting on her Choate experience. “I feel privileged to have helped students on their linguistic and cultural journey here at Choate Rosemary Hall.”
