On Oct. 23, Victor Vazquez Vincent, a middle school Spanish teacher, died following an aneurysm. Vincent, who taught at GDS for 22 years, was known throughout the community for his calm and kind presence.
Vincent’s unexpected death left numerous students and faculty to reflect on him as a teacher and person. Community members mourned Vincent’s death with memorial tables in the lower/middle school lobby and next to the high school. Faculty and students alike remembered Vincent for his immersive teaching style, delicious cooking and gentle personality.
“Generations of students learned from his patience, kindness and human approach to language and culture. His loss is heartbreaking for all of us,” Head of School Russell Shaw wrote in an Oct. 24 email to the community.
Vincent became a teacher “because of his love of foreign language and passion for it,” his wife, Patti Vincent, said in an interview with the Bit.
According to middle school French teacher Aicha Kacem, Vincent intended to spend two more years teaching at GDS. “He wanted to spend more time in Spain with his brother,” Kacem said.
Students and faculty knew Vincent not only for his passion for education, but also for his delicious cooking. Faculty and students loved his churros, oysters and GDS-famous paella. “A lot of people remember Victor for his paella,” middle school history teacher Judy Brown said. “He would cook this wonderful dish. It was a dish that was native to Spain, his home country, and everyone would look forward to it.”
Middle school Spanish teacher Johanne Chevere said Vincent incorporated cooking into his teaching. “He would spend the whole weekend at home preparing the dough,” Chevere said, referring to Vincent teaching his students how to make churros. “He brought a lot of joy through cooking and connecting people to his culture in Spain.”
“He used to cook for Country Market Day about ten years ago,” Patti Vincent said, referring to the annual fall festival at GDS. “We used to pack up all these coolers full of stuff and pans with paella. He just loved cooking for the teachers and students.”
Vincent also led student trips to Spain. Middle school history teacher Julia Blount ’08 attended one of Vincent’s trips when she was an eighth-grade student at GDS. “He really thought carefully about how we would remember the different aspects of Spanish culture, which I think shows his careful planning on his end of the experience as a whole.”
“Being a native of Spain, no one knew the culture better than someone who was from there. I think that was one of the most outstanding qualities about him,” Brown said. “I would always hear what a wonderful time [students] would have.”
“He loved the students’ eagerness to learn and their curiosity,” Patti Vincent said. “It gave him purpose. It was his purpose to share his culture, his language and teach students about Spain.
Vincent was involved in the Greater Washington Association of Teachers of World Language (GWATFL), where he served as president and a board member. He often encouraged world language teachers from GDS to join the association.
“I always remember that first year I got here,” Chung said, referring to her first year teaching at GDS. “I was just by myself; I didn’t know any teachers.” Vincent invited Chung to be a board member at GWATFL. “This opportunity allowed me to meet different great educators and deepen my knowledge and connection to Washington, D.C.,” Chung said.
“[Vincent] would always push you to go [to GWAFTL workshops] because for him there is always something to learn. That’s how I see him dedicated to education,” Kacem said.
Senior Zuri Jones, who took seventh grade Spanish with Vincent, recalled one of the traditions in Vincent’s class: Every Friday, they would watch a cartoon called “Muzzy in Gondoland.” “He valued us learning not only literature, reading and vocab for Spanish, but also conversation,” she said. “I think watching those shows made us learn the actual words that people are using day to day in Spanish, not just in a class setting.”
“Sometimes he would tell stories about when he lived in Spain,” sophomore Abby Orsek said. “He would talk about some of his experiences, and I thought that it was really cool especially since it was a different culture. The stories would sometimes relate to a new unit and it was helpful to put that into context through his storytelling.”
Sophomore Rafa Westelius said he remembered how Vincent often came to his middle school soccer games and made time to talk with Westelius after the games. “He was always there for students,” Westelius said.
“He was very gentle,” Sevak said. “Maybe it’s because I was in eighth grade and I was very small, and he was a very big guy compared to me. But he was just super gentle, super nice and spoke really softly.”
“Victor was very mild,” Brown said. “I heard someone refer to him as the gentle giant. He was always the same way every time you saw him, very friendly and very helpful to people.Students and teachers felt the same way about him.”
“He had this ability of making people feel seen,” Chevere said. “He would love getting to know the new teachers and he would reach out and he would do activities at his house. He was that person who was always socializing.”
Middle school Spanish teacher Jorge Baez-Mora said he hoped that there will be an annual event at GDS community to honor Vincent. “It’s hard to think about, but maybe every year we have an event in memory of Victor to remember who he was, to be together and not forget him,” he said.