Before Amber Sitton began teaching at Buford Middle School five years ago, there was no Spanish language program for students there. Today, the program that Sitton established allows her students to earn credit for high school Spanish I during their seventh and eighth grade years and start Spanish II in ninth grade.
“It is so important for students to start learning a language early and I’m glad that I’m able to be a part of that process,” said Sitton, who is a 2011 graduate of Buford High School.
It was a BHS teacher who helped cultivate Sitton’s love of the Spanish language and culture.
“Ms. Coley’s Spanish class helped me to realize that I wanted to consider a career in something Spanish related,” Sitton said. “I did not know that I wanted to teach, but I knew that I wanted to use all that she taught me and continue to learn more about the language and culture after leaving her classroom.”
Coley is also Sitton’s favorite teacher from her high school years.
“She was a very interesting person with great stories to share,” Sitton said. “She helped me to fall in love with the Spanish language and culture and inspired me to want to major in it in college. She had a different approach to teaching than most of my other teachers which made her class never boring.”
During her years at BHS, Sitton was an A student and was involved in Spanish Club and Beta Club. She was also a four-year letterman in cross country, which she ran from eighth grade through her senior year, and a three-year letterman in track.
Sitton’s favorite high school memory is competing in the cross country state championship her senior year.
“We qualified for the first time when I was a senior and ended up placing 4th overall in the state,” she said. “I ran my best time ever at that race and it was a great way to finish my five years on the team.”
When Sitton began teaching in 2017, she started coaching the BHS team with one of her former high school coaches. Two years later, she began coaching Buford Middle School’s cross country team.
Sitton holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and marketing from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, and a master’s degree in foreign language education from Valdosta State. She will graduate in May with an education specialist degree in instructional technology from Valdosta.
A resident of Buford, Sitton is the daughter of Scott and Kim Sitton. She has two siblings — a twin, Ben, who is a sheriff’s deputy in Huntsville, Alabama, and Yun, a junior at Buford High School.
Sitton’s hobbies and interests include hiking, traveling, attending concerts, movies and walking her dog, Jules.
