Spanish Teacher moves to work at Chelsea Center

Margaret Korte
Print/Podcast Editor

Spanish teacher Patrick Bommarito is moving to work in the Chelsea Center beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

Bommarito, who has taught Spanish at WGHS for 14 years, said the choice to shift to the Chelsea Center was a “quick process” because it was an internal position. He will be taking the role of Community Connector, a job currently occupied by Jennifer Willenborg.

Coordinator at the Chelsea Center, Kerry Arens, said Bommarito will “teach experiential learning classes,” as well as assisting students with service learning, internships, and passion pursuits.

Bommarito said his new position will include “working with students and the community: businesses, job shadowing, asking what will be available.”

Current community connector, Jennifer Willenborg, is moving to work at the University City school district starting next school year.

Willenborg said that her current position “requires someone who doesn’t mind making a phone call, building bridges [and] networking.”

She said community connector needs to be “happy to chat with anyone” and use connections as an opportunity to network.

She added that a community connector needs to be someone with the ability to “meet students where they are” and to “design meaningful learning.”

Bommarito said that he’s “gotten to know Dr. Arens and the Chelsea Center in the past few years.” “Once I started working with them as a teacher, I just really enjoyed it.”

He’d tried experiential learning with his classes in the past, but there had been a “lull” after the pandemic.

“[The Chelsea Center] was like, ‘We’re on it,’” Bommarito said. Last school year, his class took a tour of Cherokee Street and worked in an international welcome center, working with recent immigrants and “getting them acclimated.”

After working with the Chelsea Center, Bommarito said he started writing down ideas. “I like Spanish teaching,” he said, “but I think there could be more.”

He hopes to help teachers incorporate more experiential learning into their classes through the Chelsea
Center. He said as a teacher himself, he hopes to use relationships he’s already built with other staff members to his advantage.

Arens said she’s “excited to have him as part of the team.”

“[I’ve] worked with him before and seen how much he likes work-
ing with kids, which is really goal number one,” Arens said.

“I really like what they do, really like experiential learning,” Bommarito said.

He looks forward to working with students and promoting “more deep learning.”

“[You] just gotta get out there and do it,” Bommarito said.