Derek Petrey is a man of many hats. He is a professor of Spanish, and occasionally Portuguese, at Sinclair Community College. He also serves as Modern Languages Coordinator, Honors Program director, a member of Latino Connections, a faculty fellow for the Center of Teaching and Learning and has been a freelance translator for 19 years.
Before coming to Sinclair in 2003, Petrey was a graduate teaching associate at Ohio State University, a visiting assistant professor at Kent State University and he later returned to Ohio State as a senior lecturer.
Petrey said one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching new languages is seeing the moment when students “get it.” He cited a recent class in which the phrase, “to complain” was taught and a light-hearted brainstorming of grievances commenced.
“You can actually use the language to talk about these things and to connect to people,” he said. “And then the student comes back and says, ‘I went and I tried this, and it worked and I could talk to them!’ They can really go out and reach out to people. I think that’s a really great thing.”
Recently, he started a Facebook group called Dayton Habla Espanol to help facilitate continual practice for current and former Spanish students.
Petrey hosts Spanish Conversation tables in the Library seating area near Starbucks, on Tuesdays from noon to 1 p.m. and on Thursdays from 4 to 5 p.m. for students and the community to casually chat and ask language questions.
“We have a mix of people come down and practice,” Petrey said. “I think sometimes people are intimidated in a large class about speaking, so it helps for them to practice some place outside the classroom to reinforce their skills.”
Petrey is also one of two delegates from Sinclair that attend Dayton Hispanic Chamber meetings, composed of representatives from local business, education, religious and other social groups that focus on advocacy and providing resources for local organizations and individuals.
He has had the opportunity to travel as a student and as an educator to several Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries including Chile, Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica and is able to incorporate his experiences in these countries into his class lectures.
A trip to Costa Rica is coordinated with Wright State University and allows Sinclair students to study abroad and gain firsthand cultural experience.
The three week trips consist of about 20 students and faculty from Sinclair and Wright State University. Petrey said that return trips to Costa Rica are expected for 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020.
He has traveled twice to Guatemala with the Global Action Awareness Club to do service projects and assisted with the construction of a roof for a new school.
“There are certain things we take for granted in this country and we don’t even realize how precious they are,” Petrey said. “We built a school for these kids… they are so happy that they can go to school now. When was the last time you heard a bunch of third-graders saying, ‘yeah, we get to go to school now.”
