Skip to Content
  • Browse
  • Past Issues
  • Search

Arts and Letters

Wagner History

Wagner News

Inside Sports

Alumni Stories

Obituaries

Alumni Events

From the President

Feature Stories
Winter 2022
Winter 2021
Fall 2021
Summer 2019
Winter 2018–19
Summer 2018
Fall 2017
Summer 2017
Fall 2016
Winter 2015-16
Summer 2015
Fall 2014
Winter 2013-14
Summer 2013
Fall 2012
Summer 2012
Fall 2011
Summer 2011
Fall 2010
Summer 2010
Fall 2009
Summer 2009
Fall 2008
Summer 2008

A Language Teacher and Global Citizen

SHARE
PRINT
BACK TO TOP
A Language Teacher and Global Citizen
Illustration of Stephanie Gangemi ’06
A Prison Social Worker and Reformer
Illustration of Alex Jacobs Wilke ’07
A Public Relations Specialist and Civic Leader

Crescendo Smalls ’07 M’08 teaches Spanish at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn.

Teaching Spanish is more than just a job for him. “For me, Spanish is not just a language, it’s a part of my life,” he says. “Speaking Spanish and being immersed in the culture, and being able to use what I know to impact others and to bless others has been tremendous.”

Like Stephanie Gangemi, Smalls wanted to be a music major when he came to Wagner; but his First-Year Learning Community, which combined literary and linguistic studies in Spanish, led him in a new direction. While the Wagner choir gave him an outlet for his musical interests, he found himself more drawn to Spanish than to music theory. In education courses, he observed classrooms in New York City public schools, and began to envision himself as a teacher.

Montage illustration of Crescendo Smalls ’07 M’08: In color, smiling; in pencil, singing in the Wagner College Choir
Illustration by Anja Reponen

During his senior year, he spent a semester studying abroad in Madrid, Spain. It was his first time traveling abroad, and the experience capped off his studies and fueled a new sense of mission for him. “It opened the door for me to being global, being aware of what’s going on outside the U.S., and connecting with people, cultural connections,” he says.

Just as he learned at Wagner to use Spanish to connect culturally with others, he now teaches his students from that same mindset, integrating experiential learning outside of the classroom so that they can apply their Spanish skills to real-life situations.

“I tell my students, ‘I don’t care how much vocabulary you know, what you can do from a textbook, if you cannot connect with someone culturally, if you cannot converse with someone in the Spanish language, if you cannot use this language to make connections with people, then I failed you,” he says. “‘I’m giving you the tools to connect with other people across the globe.’”

Smalls is still active in music as well, especially in his church. He regularly volunteers with Christian student groups at Wagner, such as Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In 2015, he combined his gifts in Spanish and music by teaching workshops on music and worship at a Christian music camp in Spain — just one of several trips abroad he has taken since he was bitten by the traveling bug as a Wagner senior.

“Being [at Wagner] as a language major was a launching pad,” Smalls says. “It really opened me up to the world and to being a global citizen, and taking all that I’ve learned and sharing it with my students.”

Read More Stories of Wagner Plan Alumni!

See more in the ‘Create Your Own Story’ series.

Winter 2018–19

  • Alumni Stories
  • Feature Stories
  • international
  • teaching
  • The Wagner Plan
SHARE
PRINT

Related Stories

image description

Why Anthropology Is Important

Aug 16, 2019 Recently retired Professor Gordon McEwan, an expert on the Incas and their predecessors, helped students thrive in our multicultural world.
image description

Maria Giura ’90: The Book That Changed My Life

Jul 31, 2019 It opened my eyes to the lives of others, including those of my own family.
image description

My Second Home

Jul 31, 2019 In the summer of 1978, right before I started the second grade, my family moved to Germany.
CLASS NOTES
OBITUARIES
CONTACT US

LATEST NEWS

image description

Songfest: Then and Now

For almost 70 years, Songfest has been one of the biggest events on campus. What …

image description

Heroines of the Holocaust

This June, a Wagner College symposium on “Heroines of the Holocaust” brought 50 scholars from …

image description

History Makers: Kinsey Casey ’02

Kinsey Casey ’02 was destined for a life in public service. And no wonder: Her …

image description

Uncommon Lives: Julie Hassett ’08

Julie Hassett ’08 is a body-paint, hair, makeup and cosmetic prosthetics artist who has done …

  • About the Magazine
  • Give to Wagner
  • Wagner Newsroom
  • Wagner Home
FOLLOW US

© 2023 All Rights Reserved