Spanish Program Faculty

Luis Diaz
Spanish Program Coordinator

A native of Cantabria in northern Spain, Luis Diaz specialized in language and education at the Universidad del País Vasco in Spain and Leipzig Universität in Germany. He completed his teaching degree at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Luis’ studies emphasized education, leadership and culture. He has experience teaching different age groups, ranging from elementary to high school, and he has taught theater, folk arts and crafts and constructive dynamics for more than five years. Apart from the education field, Luis has worked as a manager, interpreter and translator for a European Union Information Desk. In addition to his native Spanish, Luis speaks English, French and German.

Alina Cortazar-Cano
Lead Teacher

Alina Cortazar-Cano is from Madrid, Spain, where she received her bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and speech therapy from the University Complutense de Madrid. She was a public employee of the Spanish government for five years, working as an elementary teacher in a bilingual primary school. She taught literacy, math, science and arts and crafts. Alina has always loved languages and has lived in France and England. She recently completed a teacher training course at Chicester University in England. Alina enjoys technology, sports, traveling and music.

Aiora Etxebarria
Lead Teacher

Aiora Etxebarria is from Bilbao, Spain — part of the Basque country. She speaks Basque, Spanish and English. Aiora has bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education and physical education. Growing up in a family of teachers made her passionate about the teaching profession. She has six years of teaching experience, the last four of which she spent working with children ages 2-6. Aiora believes in active and hands-on learning. Although this is her first time in the United States, she has studied English in England and Ireland. Aiora enjoys skating, skiing, canoeing and playing soccer.

Sergio Cabanillas González
Lead Teacher

Sergio Cabanillas González hold a bachelor’s degree in Childhood Education from the University of the Basque Country in Spain. He has improved his qualifications in the field, especially in Language Learning Didactics, and has taught in different languages (Spanish, Basque and English) and different ages (Kindergarten-Primary). Because of this varied experience, he knows that linguistic immersion has a vital importance and many benefits in the teaching-learning process. Sergio tries to convey this in the classroom by contributing alternative viewpoints, making the children feel confident, living and loving the new language they are learning. Other than teaching, Sergio’s other passions in life include his six little nephews and nieces! He is looking forward to starting his new journey at Denver Montclair International School, sharing new experiences and doing what he does best: teaching.

Ana María Martínez González
Lead Teacher

Ana María Martínez González is originally from Elche, an industrial city on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. She received a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a bachelor’s degree in Employment and Labour Relations from the University of Alicante. She also holds a teacher training certificate from the University Miguel Hernández of Elche.

Ana María has been teaching students ages 3 – 12 with different cultural and social backgrounds for two years. Some of her hobbies include playing sports, especially skiing, traveling around the world and also spending time with family and friends.

Joanna Hanby
Assistant Teacher

Originally from Connecticut, Joanna Hanby has a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science and a minor in Spanish from the University of Richmond. She has lived in Spain and is fluent in Spanish. In her free time, Joanna enjoys playing soccer and lifeguarding.

Amador Jiménez
Lead Teacher

Originally from Martos, a small town from the south of Spain, Amador Jiménez holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, with an emphasis in foreign language teaching from the University of Jaén Spain, University of Leeds England and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Granada in Spain. Currently, he is writing his PhD dissertation, which focuses on children pedagogy and second language acquisition.  
Amador has a strong passion for sports, outdoor activities and a healthy lifestyle. During his undergraduate years, he played college soccer in Spain and England. In addition to this, he practiced with the University of Alabama at Birmingham soccer team, a NCAA division one team. Other sports that he enjoys include tennis, platform tennis, running and mountain biking.

Francis Khadem
Assistant Teacher

Francis “Fran” Khadem, originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, received her bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico. She has several years of experience working in Early Childhood Education. Francis enjoys spending time with her family and practicing yoga. She has two children enrolled in DMIS’ Spanish program.

Maria Lara
Assistant Teacher

Maria was born in Lima, Peru and graduated from Micaela Bastidas high school. She came to Denver in 1969. Before she attended college, she worked with children of all ages, from infants to elementary-age students for the past 20 years. She graduated from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a degree in Early Childhood  Education, and also received a certificate to be a teacher’s assistant for children 3 to 5 years old. Before working at DMIS, she worked as an assistant at the YMCA for six years.

Maria enjoys teaching, nurturing and watching young children grow and develop their Spanish skills, she also enjoys interacting with their parents. In addition to teaching during the school year, she also works at DMIS and YMCA summer camps. In her free time she loves to cook — especially Peruvian dishes!

Marta Lopez
Lead Teacher

Originally from Soria, Spain, Marta Lopez received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education with an emphasis on bilingual teaching and physical education. She has over five years teaching experience and has worked as a bilingual teacher in Spain, Mexico, Portugal and the U.S. Marta has also volunteered in an orphanage in Peru and speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English.

In her spare time, Marta enjoys teaching swimming, skating, dance and gymnastics. She is also a certified aerobics and Pilates instructor. She is very excited to join the DMIS team!

Natalia Lopez
Lead Teacher

Natalia Lopez is originally from Madrid, Spain. She has a Teaching Degree from Escuni University in Madrid, and has completed a course at Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign language. Natalia has also worked in Asuncion, Paraguay with the Spanish National Agency for Cooperation developing a program to train Paraguayan teachers to write teaching materials while she taught children of different ages. She has five years of teaching experience — three of them here in the U.S. in immersion programs.

Before coming to the U.S., Natalia worked at an international camp known as the ‘Peace Camp’ in Barcelona, where there were children from all over the world. By working there, she discovered how great it is to grow while learning about other cultures and languages like DMIS students do on a daily basis. In her free time, Natalia enjoys hiking, traveling, practicing yoga, meeting new people and eating new food.

Carmen Izquierdo Martínez
Lead Teacher

Carmen Izquierdo Martínez is from Valencia, Spain. She received a bachelor’s degree in Education from the Escuela de Magisterio of Valencia. Before coming to DMIS, she taught in public and private schools in the metropolitan area of Valencia, from ECE to 8th grade. She also taught in other international schools like the French Lycee of Valencia. For two years, she also taught adults and participated in a European program of  personal development for minorities.

Carmen has been teaching at DMIS since 2007. On the weekends, she has developed and implemented training for teachers for the last four years, regarding class management, craftwork, etc. In the past, she ran a “Kumon school,” which is a math program for advanced children. She maintains private classes of Spanish for both children and adults with very enjoyable activities.
In her moments of free time, she enjoys traveling throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe, sharing dinner with friends and watching movies. In addition to her native Spanish language, Carmen also speaks Catalan, English and French.

Aránzazu “Arancha” Molina
Lead Teacher

Adrián Palomo
Assistant Teacher

More information coming soon.

Minerva García Romero
Lead Teacher

Minera García Romero is originally from Madrid, Spain. She received her bachelor’s degree in education from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and has been teaching since 2003. Throughout her career, she has worked as a preschool teacher in Madrid with children 3 to 6 years old. Minerva has also had the opportunity to participate in Comenius International Programs to learn and share the teaching methodologies and school systems of different European countries like Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, Italy and England.

In her free time, she enjoys music, traveling, scuba-diving, skiing, swimming, dancing, cooking and spending time with family and friends.

Alex Ruz
Assistant Teacher

Alex Ruz speaks English, French, Italian and Spanish, and she has worked in early childhood education programs for more than a decade. Alex was born in Florence, Italy, and spent her early childhood there and in the United States. At the age of 9, she moved with her family to Mexico City, where she studied for five years. She came to Colorado in 2006 with her husband — a native of France — and two children. Alex enjoys music, art, reading, snow skiing and yoga.

Ainhoa Sanchez
Lead Teacher

Ainhoa Sanchez received a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of The Basque Country and also completed training as a specialist in speech therapy and speaking disorders. She believes in strong communication between teachers and parents and in providing a safe and secure environment for her students. This is her seventh year as an educator and she is just as excited as she was in her first year. To Ainhoa, teaching provides an opportunity for continual learning and growth. One of her hopes as an educator is to instill a love of learning in her students, as she shares her passion for learning with them.

In her spare time, Ainhoa loves traveling, swimming and reading. She also likes to take advantage of all the outdoor activities Colorado has to offer like skiing, biking, hiking and horse back riding. In addition to English and Spanish, Ainhoa also speaks Basque.

José Eduardo “Toche” Terrades
Assistant Teacher

More information coming soon.