FBI visits FHS
Former agent inspires students
“I love for students to make a connection between what they are studying in Spanish class and real-life application of their Spanish skills in their future careers,” Maldonado said.
Since Maldonado started teaching DE Spanish at FHS in 2015, a yearly visit of FBI agents has been a part of the course.
“Payne has been enthralling my students with his experiences for the last seven years,” Maldonado said. “And along with the annual FBI visits, students learn how agents have used Spanish on the job and how useful it is to be able communicate with said language.”
“You do not have to be completely fluent in Spanish to get your point across, but knowing compliance commands and having a good understanding of Spanish can go a long way, whether trying to help Spanish-speaking people or questioning them,” Payne said.
“I was not sure if Agent Payne would be able to speak to my class this year, given his new best-selling author status and busy schedule on book tours and podcast guest obligations,” Maldonado noted. “But Agent Payne came through for me and spent 90 minutes talking with the class about his undercover work and use of Spanish.
“In particular, Agent Payne spoke about assignments in Texas, trying to eliminate drug cartel operations and finding family members who had been abducted by cartel members,” she said. “Agent Payne also spoke to the class about his other assignments, such as leading investigations on motorcycle gangs and drug trafficking, violent crime and domestic terrorism, to mention a few.
“My students and I really appreciated Agent Payne taking the time to come to class,” Maldonado said. “Agent Payne is a force of nature, and he is also a humble, kind, funny and phenomenal story teller.
“It was such a cool experience,” said Jane Davanzo, a Spanish DE student in Maldonado’s class.
“I learned so much about law enforcement and have so much respect for people like Agent Payne.”
Another student, James Nguyen, added, “Agent Scott’s stories about his time work-ing with the FBI were extremely cool, interesting and engaging.”
In addition to students attending the visit, advanced placement government/history teacher Chelsea Osborne and FHS’ officer Richard McNutt, took a few minutes to sit in on Payne’s visit. McNutt and Payne were able to share some similar experiences and talk about on-going training opportunities in law enforcement.
