Jordan Najor Groves Class of 2009 Jordan works

Jordan Najor – Groves Class of 2009 Jordan works as a physical therapist. He treats many patients who only speak Spanish, or whose English is so limited that they prefer to communicate with Jordan in Spanish about their condition. Jordan utilizes his world language skills on a weekly basis to successfully support his non-English speaking clients.

Amy Horning – Groves Class of 2000 Amy is a public librarian in Boston. She relies heavily on her language skills to communicate with her patrons and holds Spanish story time for the children in her community. Because Amy became fluent in Spanish as a student, she is able to learn Portuguese with ease. Her plan is to master that language before leaving for Brazil in February, where she will participate in a cultural exchange program as a competitively selected Fulbright scholar.

Nick Bodary – Groves Class of 1997 As a Falcon, Nick studied Japanese all four years. With that accomplishment on his application, Nick was accepted to Oakland University and earned a degree in Psychology. Now he works for Nissan, where he is in constant communication with professionals all around the globe. Without Nick’s intensive language and culture study as a high school, he would not be able to navigate those interactions successfully.

Courtney Dolan – Groves Class of 2018 Upon graduating from Groves with a strong foundation in Spanish, Courtney moved to Massachusetts to attend Boston College. She is currently utilizing her language skills in two ways: to communicate with new friends from the international community on campus, and to support her learning of French.

Stephen Johnson – Groves Class of 2006 During Stephen Johnson’s years at Groves, he studied Japanese, then continued to minor in the language as a college student. Stephen took on the Chinese language next; he now resides in China. There, he works as an English teacher in a school for Korean, Chinese and Japanese children. Stephen affirms that learning languages opens up career and travel opportunities that would not otherwise be options.

Rudi Goddard – Groves Class of 2009 Rudi has a strong interest in culture and travel. She credits the Groves World Language Department teachers for kindling her love of language learning, and it has been a consistent thread throughout her post high school life. She has traveled extensively and lived outside of the U. S. for long spells, easily navigating social and work situations. Currently Rudi works as a writer. She relies on her knowledge of language structure when she writes, and is also using her foundation with languages to master Mandariin.

Blake Pynnonen – Groves Class of 2006 Blake started his Spanish studies at Covington and continued while at Groves. He attests that his BPS language classes enabled him to become a confident student and challenge himself after graduating high school. In college, Blake minored in Linguistics. He then moved to Korea and became a teacher. Blake is now back in Michigan, continuing his career in education.

Christina Downey – Groves Class of 2007 When Christina left Groves, she settled in at De. Paul University to take part in the nursing program there. Now, Christina works as a nurse at a nationally recognized hospital in Chicago. She speaks Spanish to her patients daily.

Alec Lee – Groves Class of 2006 Alec’s path took him from Groves to Harvard to San Fransisco, with a detour in Ecuador. While in Ecuador, Alec served as the conduit to the local community for his group, being the only Spanish speaker (thanks to his Groves education)! Now, Alec is a successful business owner in a heavily multi-lingual area. He finds his Spanish skills to be a key for accessing an important part of his community.