Mr. Martinez walks into the classroom and the door slams behind him. He walks to the front of the room passing all of the flyers and interesting items he has collected on the way. Then, class starts.
One of Carter high school’s history teachers, Mr. Martinez, was born in Germany and had a military childhood.
Mr. Martinez has been at Carter for quite a long time. He used to work as a banker, but now he teaches AP Human Geography, Bible History, AP U.S. History, and U.S. History. Mr. Martinez moved to America after high school. He even met his wife in Germany while she was an Air Force brat. Mr. Martinez defined a “brat” as an honor. He explained that they had a very unique childhood, always moving, making new friends, and having to leave friends.
“Everything we did was American, we went to an American high school, we had an American village, and we were on American bases,” explains Mr. Martinez.
Even though he was born in Germany and grew up there, Martinez was also able to learn from the Americans in Germany. He explains that the cultures were blended and he misses the simplicity of his childhood. He also elaborated on the benefits of being in Germany. He and his friends would hang out around the castles, and for prom and graduations they were able to go to a castle ballroom that was built over 500 years ago.
Mr. Martinez allowed his students to step into his culture for a class period with a dish from his homeland and maybe even from his childhood.
“Mr. Martinez brought beef tongue into school one day and let us try it. Beef tongue is a dish in Germany. I was able to understand more about Mr. Martinez’s culture through trying it,” says Jackson Baker, a freshman who took AP Human Geography.
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