Juan Carlos Fernandez
5th Grade

I was born in Santander, in a very beautiful place, in the north of Spain. I am the middle child in my family. I have an older brother who lives in Madrid and has two children, and a younger brother who also lives in Madrid. I was raised in different areas in Spain due to my dad’s job (Santander, Burgos, León) but I ended up in Madrid, the capital, where I completed my high school years.

I attended the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid to do my undergrad studies in Geography and History with a specialty in Art History. At this age in my life, I practiced many athletic sports, mainly soccer and tennis. Now that I have grown a “little” older I am more inclined to practice sports such as Golf.

In 1994 I moved to Rome, Italy, for a year, to start my graduate studies in Art History. I became proficient in Italian, what a beautiful language! I then continued my graduate studies at the University of Missouri, in the United States where I learned English. I couldn’t believe that within two years I had become proficient in two languages! It was a great experience for me to live on an American University campus.

From there I moved to Venice, Italy, where I worked for a year and a half at the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, facing Venice’s Grand Canal. Finally I was ready to go back to Madrid, Spain, with my family, where I started teaching a master’s degree in Art History and Art Appraisal. During this time frame, I also taught Art History and History to the elderly for public government institutions and also volunteered at the Catholic Institution Caritas, in an afterschool program to teach elementary students Math and English.

I am married and have two wonderful kids that after living in Utah for a year and a half, possess better English acquisition than both my wife and I! We are jealous! I love working at NDPA, I enter the school every morning with a smile in my face, ready for the fun and everyday challenges and I leave every afternoon with a bigger smile. My family and I love Utah and we are, totally loving, our “American” experience!