Tracy

I’m from three generations of educators, artists and small business owners here in Denver. I grew up on a small farm, enjoying road trips and snow sports as well as live music and dancing. I went to Denver School of the Arts all seven years for Visual Arts and then Cinematography during which I volunteered with United Artists Coalition for Kids, Winter Special Olympics and Share Colorado Food Bank and played sports for South High School.

While growing up I spent a lot of time in the University Park neighborhood with families from all over the world who were either studying or teaching at Denver University. I believe the exposure I had to a variety of languages from very young helped me with learning languages later on. I studied Russian, Japanese and Spanish in High School, but because I married into a family from Mexico, I was able to constantly develop my skills with the Spanish language. I also had ample opportunities to speak Spanish with students as a bilingual and then immersion paraprofessional and teacher. So naturally I also got my Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature and Culture. I am so grateful to be bilingual because it has granted me access to twice as much perspective on the world!

My husband and I run a shoe shine and repair business in downtown Denver. Although my specialty in DSA was sculpture, I have been painting with acrylics recently as well as compiling my husband’s poetry and photography into a book. He writes poetry and enjoys photography as well as being an expert in shoe coloring and polishing. We live with my daughter who has a passion for playing the piano and singing as well as designing houses and furniture.

I have a passion for learning, designing learning materials and teaching so I was so excited to learn about Allfalfa and to get to know your community!