Cultural Educator of the Year
Leo Cortes - S.C. Cultural Educator of the Year
“This experience means a lot to me. It has been a challenge and an important opportunity to share my culture and teach the language. Teaching here has been rewarding because I have seen that my students are more interested in learning about my culture and have changed their perspective about other cultures.”

Leonardo Cortés Restrepo • Colombia Colombia
South Carolina Outstanding Cultural Educator

Spanish teacher
St. James High ▪ Horry County Schools, South Carolina

Leonardo Cortés was named St. James High’s 2008 Teacher of the Year for incorporating his Colombian culture into his daily Spanish lessons. In one assignment, his students read a Time magazine article on the most influential Hispanics in the U.S. Then they used their Spanish skills to discuss the people’s leadership qualities.

Leonardo Cortés has been instrumental in developing St. James High School’s foreign language curriculum. This summer, he videotaped interviews with students and teachers at public and private schools in Columbia to use for the Horry County School System’s unit, “My School Life.” The interviews feature Columbians talking about their lives in and out of school. Cortés and his fellow Horry County teachers use the videos to illuminate different aspects of the unit, and incorporate related activities to give students further insight into life in another country.

Cortés’s units of study will be implemented as part of a tri-county exchange in South Carolina’s Horry, Charleston and Greenville counties. As he completes his last year at St. James High, he has already suggested a plan for students in Horry County and his future students in Colombia to exchange cultural artifacts in an ongoing program to develop cultural awareness.

Sharon McCullough, Ed.D., Foreign Language Learning Specialist, Horry County Schools:

“Leo is held in the highest regard by his school’s principal, curriculum coach, administrative team and colleagues. He has been integral in our district’s curriculum development process. Although we are sad that this is Leo’s last year in Horry County, we are looking forward to having a ‘cultural connection’ in Colombia.”