She is said to be one of the hardest teachers at West High School, but you couldn't tell from the outside looking in.

Students say she is a favorite, her classroom is decorative and colorful, attendance is high and students like being there.

To them it's no surprise the Utah Foreign Language Association selected Aileen Aviles as the 2004 Foreign Language Teacher of the Year.

"She has a tremendous amount of energy, and she is really enthusiastic . . . she puts everything into what she is doing," said Rick Jaramillo, assistant principal at West. "This is a lady who is a real professional — she is just top notch."

Aviles has been at West High for 17 years — her entire teaching career. As a native of Puerto Rico, a big part of her enthusiasm comes from teaching "who she is."

Aviles said Spanish is basically four skills — listening, speaking, reading and writing. She just adds culture to the list, and that component seems to make the difference.

"It's part of me — it's like I am teaching a part of me, my culture, my language, and that's what makes it fun for me," Aviles said

Her classes sing and write songs, learn cultural dances, listen to local artists from different Latino countries and this year are even making a music video.

But she also has high expectations and said she doesn't like light work loads. Her goal is teaching students to speak, not just learn words. It's a delicate balance.

Aviles said variety is what really captures students' attention, whether it is through music, projects, group work or individual work.

"It's not just the tediousness of just book work and work sheets — today we are doing music, tomorrow we are learning verbs," said Aviles.

She has also taken her passion out into Salt Lake City School District and was instrumental in piloting and establishing Spanish classes for native speakers — students who come to the United States with an elementary education and end up losing their Spanish while struggling with English.

Aviles has double master's degrees and is also an instructor in the International Baccalaureate program, traveling to a handful of different countries to train IB teachers for the Spanish program.

Nonetheless Aviles has no plans to leave West for greener pastures.

She said she is happy at the school, enjoys the age group and likes the opportunity to be a positive role model for many of the Latino students at the school.

Jeffery Stokes, president of the UFLA, said foreign language is an area that doesn't get a lot of attention. These days people tend to put more emphasis on English, math and sciences.

"We think it's really important to award really outstanding achievement in foreign language education," said Stokes. "They face unique challenges — you're not only dealing with knowledge but motor skills as well, and a unique methodology is required to really be successful."

UFLA looks at nominations that range from elementary schools to universities. This year Aviles received $100 award and a chance to compete at a regional level

The organization was established more than 30 years ago to foster discussion and the interchange of ideas among teachers and students of second and foreign languages. It aims to promote the advancement and mutual understanding of languages, culture and literature.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com