The Chadbourne Legacy

When you first walk into the room, you’re greeted by authentic artwork and around 25 pairs of eyes staring at you. Once you overlook the spotlight of walking into a full classroom, you’re greeted with a warm smile. Ms. Tracy Chadbourne (Ms. Chad for short) is known to be one of the most spunky and one-of-a-kind teachers on the CB campus. From the complicated verb tenses to the tedious memorization of vocabulary, Spanish can give us a hard time.

But the beloved Ms. Chad can make those tough-to-follow verb tenses much more fun. Her unique humor can get even Mr. English to crack a smile, but her jokes aren’t the only thing that people love about her. She’s also one of the most respected and liked teachers on campus by both teachers and students. The Talon decided to take a closer look into room 704 to get to know Ms. Chad a bit better.

Ms. Chad was destined to be a teacher. The reason that she’s so popular on CB’s campus is because of her driven attitude and stern but loving disposition.

“I knew [I wanted to be a teacher] when I was nine,” she says. “My upbringing influenced my choice of being a teacher because I knew that school was always safe.”

The life she lived as a child has shaped her into the person she is today.

“I have always loved school. I love how it has a definite beginning and end — kind of like the preterite [laughs].”

When talking about her passion for teaching, you could see the twinkle in her eye. Her silly, yet serious attitude makes her a popular teacher and great friend to many of her students and peers.

The Talon went to one of Ms. Chad’s best friends on campus, Ms. Stephanie Roybal, to further explore why she’s so revered.

“As a teacher, she is so honest and real,” Ms. Roybal commented. “She’s a great person to go to for classroom management ideas, which led us to respect each other as educators and friends.”

She talked about how Ms. Chad has helped make her the teacher that she is today. The sharing of new ideas for how to run a classroom marked a true friendship that has led to an unbreakable bond between the two teachers.

“I met her in my second year of teaching here at CB because she was in Peru for my first year. At that time, she was in room 406. I was known as having the noisy classroom, and one day she called me complaining about the noise, but it wasn’t the kids she was talking about. She said that she could hear me over the kids, but she liked what I had to say. Over time, we started to talk a little bit more.”

In addition to bonding with her colleagues, Ms. Chad has made a deep impact on the lives of her students. Rachel Obmann (’17) knows Ms. Chad’s unique style of teaching better than most people. She’s had Ms. Chad for both Spanish I and Spanish III, allowing them to develop the great relationship they share today. 

Rachel opened up to the Talon about how Ms. Chad is the one teacher that she can talk to after class because she knows Ms. Chad can relate to her.

“The best quality about Ms. Chad is how she’s straight up and willing to help you whenever you need it,” Rachel says.

 

When Ms. Chad was asked what job she would want if she weren’t a teacher, she responded confidently. 

“I would want to be a counselor, so I could get paid for the amount of advice I give out every day,” she says. “Or I’d be Beyonce — either one.”

After saying this, she was quick to laugh at her own joke, which then makes you laugh… classic Ms. Chad. She’s quick to laugh at herself, but also quick to give some of her students a bit of flack as well. Many of her students are no stranger to her famous “ChadBURN” stamp.

Part of her charm is her ability to be real and tell students what they need to hear, even if it’s not want they want to hear. She sets aside her duty of teaching to listen and help any student that comes to her with a problem.

“I feel like I can tell her anything and she’ll be there to comfort me when I need it or just listen when I need to rant about something,” Rachel commented.

Senior Megan Walaitis (’17) knows how true of a friend Ms. Chad can be — while still maintaining a teacher-student relationship, of course.

“We talk outside of class all the time. Sometimes we have lunch in The Grove and catch up on our lives,” Megan said with a smile. “She really cares about me and is always there for me.”

Megan had Ms. Chad for Mastering the Essay over the summer and for Spanish III during junior year, which is how their friendship began to grow.

“During the classes that I had with Ms. Chad, I started to appreciate her more as a teacher as well as a person.”

Not only has Ms. Chad influenced her students in a positive way and built strong relationships with them, she has also done the same with the her fellow staff members.

We all know that students have their squads, but so do teachers. Ms. Chad has a squad of her own but still maintains a strong base of friendship with all of the other teachers. Ms. Roybal, being one in their little squad, expressed her thoughts on her good friend Ms. Chad.

“She comes from a place of love, and she’s a genuinely good person. She listens to you, and she’s so much fun to be around.”

Ms. Chad is always up for a good laugh and she tries to be a better person every single day. She lives by the mentality that there’s always something to be done or something that could be done better. Ms. Chad is a strong woman who has seen many things and has been many places. She is a woman who won’t judge you for saying something that maybe you couldn’t get away with when talking to other teachers. She’s the type of person who’ll pick someone out of a crowd and spark up a conversation, regardless of whether she knows them or not.

“I love the students,” Ms. Chad shares. “I love watching them grow into cool adults.”

Spanish can be a difficult subject for many students, but with Ms. Chadbourne, her students look forward to learning each day. From the telenovelas that no one but Ms. Chad can understand to the oral presentations about family trees, she can make any class unique and exciting.

“I came to CB because I got lucky,” commented Ms. Chad. “In fact, it was one of the luckiest things that has ever happened to me. It’s true what they say about vocations, that it’s where your talents and the world’s needs meet. I have learned so much and grown into the person I am today because of this job. I truly love it.”

Ms. Chad has taught her students about the real world — there’s no coddling, and adults are held to a certain standard. The life that she has lived has molded her into the person she is today: outgoing, loving, and honest. Ms. Chad not only teaches Spanish, but she also teaches life. One of the things that she wants students to get out of her class is how to be a good person and how to work out in the real world. She has specific standards for everyone in her classes because she holds herself to these same standards.

You may walk through the language hallway on campus hundreds of times during the school year and never once walk into room 704, but you’ll still know that there will be a teacher and friend waiting for you when you do need someone to talk to — willing to listen and ready to laugh.