Sarah McElaney’s 29th year as a Spanish teacher in the Mountain View–Los Altos School District is particularly bittersweet, as it will be her last.

The teaching profession runs in McElaney’s family — her mother, grandmother, uncle and great-aunt were all teachers — and she was always inclined to teach. She planned out her future in her head at a young age.

“As a kid, I would pretend I was the teacher, set up my bedroom, and I would have a classroom,” McElaney said.

As a seasoned Spanish teacher with 9 years of experience at Los Altos High School, McElaney finds joy in the hidden treasures of teaching a language.

“What I like most is telling people about the world,” McElaney said. “When you learn a language, it’s more than just words and grammar. You’re learning about the people and the culture — I love teaching that.”

McElaney did not start with the same level of passion for Spanish as she does now, as she is not a native speaker like many world language teachers. However, after going abroad for a high school exchange program in Mexico City, she fell in love with the language and culture.

“I loved the people,” McElaney said. “I felt like they embraced me. All of a sudden, I felt confident in Spanish and really got into it, even though I didn’t know the language too well.”

In college, McElaney went abroad again for a semester in Madrid, Spain. Having personally experienced the magic of living abroad, she has always encouraged students to participate in AMIGOS, a national volunteer abroad program connecting LAHS students with students from Latin America.

“I would say, ‘There’s more to it than Los Altos or Mountain View,’” McElaney said. “‘Go and try it and you’ll be changed forever.’”

As a high school student who never quite got the right answers in Spanish class, McElaney understands and validates students’ difficulties in learning the language and the common struggles of learning in the classroom.

“I ask students not to get frustrated because you can take what you learn and use it,” McElaney said. “My goal is to let them leave with something more than just Spanish writing, but with some understanding of culture and music, how young people are in other countries and that we’re not so different.”

Some of McElaney’s past students have become Spanish teachers, and one even moved to and got married in Spain. As a Spanish teacher who teaches classes Spanish I to AP Spanish Language, McElaney has taught a variety of levels.

“She’s never complained about teaching difficult classes where there are so many different levels and students need so much,” World Language Department Coordinator Antonio Murillo said. “Not everybody wants to teach those classes, but she embraces it and she loves it.”

As someone who has shared a classroom with McElaney this year, Murillo trusts McElaney to run his class.

“If there’s a person I could co-teach with, it would be Señora McElaney,” Murillo said. “If I have to step out, I know my students are in good hands.”

Through many years of teaching, McElaney discovered there is more to being a teacher than merely academics.

“If all I have taught is academics, I don’t feel I’ve done my job,” McElaney said. “I’m not always right, and sometimes I’m a big fail, but I know I’m trying.”

In addition to being a resource for students learning Spanish, she’s also someone her students can feel comfortable talking to as a person.

“She has a great passion for her students, smiling and greeting them when they walk into the class,” Spanish teacher Robyn Hughes said. “She also puts a lot of time into the mock trial club as its advisor, having pizzas delivered and different things.”

McElaney finds joy in spending time with students because of their passionate minds and spirit.

“I miss young people and the interest and curiosity they bring to the world,” McElaney said. “I like the fact that everyone’s willing to fight for something. I miss young thinking, and I think being around them keeps me younger. I just love it here.”

Due to her love for students, McElaney is beyond supportive of them.

“She’s just so caring,” Murillo said. “When students come in and share with her, ‘I just got into this university,’ she’s genuinely happy for them.”

McElaney’s comforting character extends beyond her students. She taught Spanish for 20 years at Mountain View High School and when she was a relatively new teacher there, McElaney made teachers like her comfortable in a new space.

“As a new teacher, she always made me feel at home,” Murillo said. “I’m a native speaker of the language we teach, but she just has that love for the culture and the language. I will miss her greatly.”

McElaney regards her coworkers, like Murillo, as old friends.

“We’re like a unit,” McElaney said. “There aren’t a lot of jobs where you get to stay with someone for that long of a time.”

On days when she has a hard time starting her mornings, McElaney can rely on her coworkers and students to brighten it up.

“I’m going to miss this so much,” McElaney said. “I’m going to miss waking up to the students because no matter what, when I’m in a bad mood or when something in my life isn’t going well, once I get to school, I forget all about it.”

McElaney plans to spend her post-retirement time seeing her grandchildren in Australia and pursuing her traveling dreams, particularly in Europe and South America.

“I just want to take day trips and not have to worry about crowds,” McElaney said.

Although her departure is bittersweet, McElaney is “leaving very happy” with 29 years of memories in the district and many more memories to make outside of it.

“She’s leaving a legacy behind,” Hughes said. “She finished just as strong, if not stronger than she started.”