Q&A: Annabella Capaccio '22, an ArtistYear Teaching Artist
Capaccio, who studied Spanish and music, uses both majors to make an impact on her elementary school students in north Philadelphia.By: Meghan Kita Wednesday, April 12, 2023 10:25 AM
At Muhlenberg, Annabella Capaccio '22 was a double major in Spanish and music. Now, she’s a teaching artist in a bilingual elementary school in Philadelphia, a position she holds through the national service organization ArtistYear. Here, she reflects on how the personalized educational experience she had at Muhlenberg has allowed her to make an impact at her service site.
How did you decide on your majors?
“I ended up at Muhlenberg because I was planning to study theatre, but I’d studied music seriously my whole life. In my first semester, hanging out with my friends, I asked a friend who was a music major to lend me her sight-reading book. I was like, ‘Hmm. If I’m interested in practicing sight reading for no reason other than for fun, I think I’m in the wrong major.’ For Spanish, I was on an advanced Spanish track in high school and I figured, ‘Why not continue with it if I love it?’ It’s very practical and important in terms of global citizenship.”
You were a Spanish tutor. Why were you interested in that?
“I have always enjoyed teaching, and I love grammar in a way that I would say is uncommon. I really enjoy dissecting language. [Assistant Professor of Spanish] Mirna Trauger gave me the opportunity to start leading Spanish conjugation workshops when I was a sophomore. That helped me realize how much I really love teaching Spanish. I did more Spanish tutoring. I did Conversation Partners, [a campus program that connects Spanish students with native or heritage Spanish speakers or high-level Spanish students to advance communication skills]. I am so passionate about languages and about teaching that [tutoring] was just a natural marriage of the two.”
Why did you choose to pursue ArtistYear?
“There’s a wonderful pipeline from Muhlenberg to ArtistYear that has recently been developed. I heard about it from Muhlenberg alumni right before I graduated. It sounded perfect: You get a chance to be a teacher of your art form without needing an education certificate. It was an excellent way to put my all into this and see if it’s what I want to keep working towards.”
How has your experience as a teaching artist been?
“It turned out even better than I could have imagined. I love my service site, a bilingual elementary school in north Philly. My current competencies are perfectly suited to what this role needs. I co-teach general music classes for kindergarten through fifth grade as well as small group piano lessons. I help with the after-school musical theatre club. I love it. I get to teach music classes in English and Spanish. I am going through the process to try to extend my service a second year.”
How did your Muhlenberg experience prepare you for this role?
“In terms of academic exploration, Muhlenberg is rather singular in the fact that it’s the norm to be a specialist in multiple things. Double majoring or majoring and minoring is the norm. It has been very important that I was able to do all those things. As a teacher, you need to know more than just your speciality. I need to be able to answer when kids have questions outside of music. And if I hadn’t been able to continue with Spanish at the level which I did, I wouldn’t have developed the kind of confidence that’s necessary to be able to have conversations with native speakers all day and to lead classes in Spanish.”
