Our Story
Nuestra Historia
Hola!
My name is Jill Woodruff and I am so excited to be serving Bonney Lake in this capacity. There is a great need for bilingual support in our community. ​​​​
After the birth of my first son, I felt that the time had come to create a boundless space for children like him to gain invaluable foundational skills in language...
and the Valencia Nature School was born!
Passion
Teaching multilingual learners is at the core of why I became a teacher in the first place. As a first generation daughter to Peruvian and Mexican parents, I crave to create a safe space for bilingual learners to experiment with their language capabilities. Raising bilingual children looks and sounds different for every family, and it is my mission to help local families find love and connection within the unique experience of multilingualism.
Experience
I have been an elementary school teacher in the Auburn School District for thirteen years.
I spent ten of those years in kindergarten!
I was also hired as a social/emotional learning teacher, multilingual program teacher, and spent one wild and crazy year of COVID teaching first graders online.
Since my first year in the Auburn School District, I have been creating my own programs for the district to better serve the Spanish/English bilingual population, including teaching bilingual summer school, and piloting a heritage language program for kindergarteners. I am proud to say that in 2019, I was awarded Elementary Teacher of the Year.
Qualifications
I graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education, then went on to receive a Masters' degree in
Curriculum & Instruction with emphasis in language acquisition from University of Washington.
I am endorsed from the State to teach English Language Learners.
