Student Life

Marc Zollinger lives by community, respect and a passion for Spanish

Sarah Chung
September 27, 2013

Marc Zollinger, Spanish teacher, lives by two words: community and respect. Known as “Marcos” to his Spanish students, he aims to be comfortable and build a community within his classes. He hopes to connect his students with the Spanish-speaking world. The goal of his class, he believes, is not to earn a good grade, but to carry this language and to be passionate about it in different aspects of our lives.
“I’d taken Spanish for a long time, and I really wasn’t good at it. But I wanted to come out of college with a useful talent,” Zollinger said.
Zollinger currently teaches Spanish 2 and AP Spanish. He has taught at the University of Oregon for six years, and at Willamette University for two years. Having lived in Spain for a year and to Ecuador with a group of his students, Zollinger hopes to lead a summer study-abroad experience.
Outside of school and his passion for Spanish, Zollinger lives with his wife, Kim, and his cat, Max, who is practically the child of the family. In fact, Zollinger was married during the first week of school in Wisconsin. He also likes motorcycling, skiing and hanging out with his friends.
In terms of West Linn, Zollinger looks at this job as ” one to have for a long time”. In the future, he’d like to look into administration.
“I think the community spirit I get is exciting. I’m looking forward to meeting students and experiencing the different quality of this school,” he said.

Donate to wlhsNOW

$145

$500

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of West Linn High School. Your contribution will allow us to continue to produce quality content by purchasing equipment, software, and continuing to host our website on School Newspapers Online (SNO).

About the Contributor

Sarah Chung, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Not only is Sarah Chung a piano player, National Merit semi-finalist, tennis player and snowboarder, but she is a phenomenal writer and dedicated journalist. “Journalism is my favorite class, and I’m not just saying that because Ms. Breyne (Journalism Adviser) is standing right next to me,” Sarah Chung, senior, said. She had no idea that after joining the eighth grade journalism class at Athey Creek Middle School that she would be co-editor-in-chief of the West Linn High School Amplifier. As a senior enjoying the early release sixth period, she is starting to think about college. “I’m really excited, but also scared because it is almost over,” Chung said. “I am definitely going to make the most of this year.” Chung is interested in attending the University of Washington, University of North Carolina, Duke or the University of San Francisco to go into medical school. After going on a mission trip to Nicaragua, her lasting impressions of the doctors and how they were able to help the people in the country stuck with her. She now dreams of practicing medicine and going on frequent trips to help people in need, like the ones she saw in Nicaragua. Outside of her journalism life, Sarah Chung lives with her parents, Jonathan and Grace, her fourth grade brother, Nathan, and her Maltese, Mickey. She plays varsity tennis and enjoys driving around with her friends in one of their Volkswagen Bugs. She continues to play the piano, which she began when she was six years old. Chung was born in California on Groundhog’s Day, Feb. 2, and she moved to Oregon when she was only a couple months old. What Chung appreciates about Oregon is the seasonal changes. “They must be distinct,” Chung said. Winter is her favorite season because all the “good” things are in it. Christmas, snowboards and snow. She loves to go to the mountain and snowboard with her friends during winter. Chung is looking forward to her fourth year on the Amplifier providing great journalism to the students, staff and the community of West Linn.