NOVA’s Martha Davis Receives AATSP 2020 National Teach Spanish Day Award

Dr. Martha Davis, professor of language arts and social sciences, NOVA Alexandria, is recipient of the 2020 National Teach Spanish Day Award.   

The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) awards college Spanish language professors for promoting and teaching the Spanish language and culture to students. The National Teach Spanish Day Award highlights this amazing contribution, and students serve as nominators for this distinction. 

Teaching at NOVA since 2008, Professor Davis’ excellence in the classroom continues to be recognized by her colleagues and students. Her efforts also go beyond the classroom: Professor Davis immerses her students in Spanish culture and participates in community activities. In 2019, she was a keynote speaker for the Dia del Niño (Children’s Day) program—a citywide festival held in Alexandria, Va., to foster positive relationships between NOVA (students and employees), the community, agencies and the police.   

AATSP shared the following student comments about Dr. Davis:  

“Profesora Davis has made SPA202 more approachable. She has encouraged us to learn from our mistakes and taught us that learning a new language can be fun.” —Kaylee Rachford 

“Profesora Davis has made it so that I feel like I can actually learn Spanish. I have tried to take this course before and felt very behind and like if I wasn’t on par with the other students there was no way I was going to make the cut in the class. I was actually encouraged to drop the class. Prof. Davis has made sure to answer my questions without making me feel like less. It has helped me to understand what is happening in class and I feel more on target with what is going on.” —Jessica Wachter 

Please join us in congratulating Professor Davis on this great achievement.    

Felicidades Profesora Davis!