This year, Billings Central Catholic High School’s Spanish 2 and 3 teacher Señora Dicken announced her retirement. Spanish 1 and 4 is taught by Señora Bummer. Dicken has been teaching at BCCHS since 2007, just under 20 years. At the end of this school year, Dicken and her husband will be moving to Ecuador where she was born. There she plans to travel around South America and may continue teaching English to students with less opportunities to attend school. Despite her leaving, her time at BCCHS has left an undeniable mark on those who’ve passed through the doors and ensures her time here will not be soon forgotten. Through many years of teaching, she has built a strong relationship with both students and teachers at BCCHS, and she will be missed by many.
Among those who will miss Dicken is her good friend and fellow teacher, Mrs. Kulaga. Kulaga is BCCHS’s AP Calculus, AP Statistics, and Algebra 2 Trigonometry teacher. She has known Dicken since her hiring in 2013. “We are totally friends inside and outside of school. We went on the trip to Italy and Spain together three summers ago and that was super fun, and we just became closer ever since then,” Kulaga explained. Through their friendship, Kulaga has come to know Dicken as a person who is “faithful, kind, and giving and will be missed.” These attributes also translate into the classroom where Dicken’s disposition has built a strong relationship with her students.
Both Kulaga and one of her students, junior Samantha Ritchie, testify to her love for her students. “She expects a lot from her students, and I think that they respect her for that and think that it is abundantly clear that she loves every single one of them, and they feel the same way,” Kulaga said. Her sentiment was echoed by Ritchie who said that Dicken is “an amazing teacher, and everybody knows that she loves this school and loves her job.” Ritchie has had Dicken for the past two years and is one of many students who have felt Dicken’s love for them. However, BCCHS students aren’t the only students who’ve felt her love for them, so have her students during her youth in Ecuador.
Growing up in Ecuador, during her first and secondary education, she found a passion for teaching in part through her first-grade teacher Gloria who inspired her through her patience and helpfulness. Thus, for as long as Dicken can remember, she has always wanted to be a teacher. Before moving to the U.S., she taught ESL (English as a Second Language) at a Catholic School in Ecuador where she no doubt also taught her students with the love and patience she received from Gloria and the students of BCCHS came to receive from her. After meeting her husband, she moved to Billings and began teaching at BCCHS.
At Central, Dicken’s favorite part was “being surrounded by so many good people that from the first moment that I [she] came here, they made me [her] feel like family.” No doubt she has returned the favor with her teaching and her legacy. Dicken hopes that she has instilled an interest in the Spanish language and culture in her students and encourages them to utilize their own knowledge in the future as they travel to Spanish-speaking countries. Both her love for her students and the Spanish language has shone through her daily lessons, confirming her legacy as a loving teacher.
Dicken’s replacement will certainly need to match her enthusiasm for teaching in order to compare to the legacy she’s left behind. As of right now, BCCHS has yet to hire a new Spanish teacher. Advising her eventual replacement, Dicken said, “Hopefully, he/she has the passion and the love for teaching…if you don’t love what you do, you’re going to have problems and it’s going to be more difficult.” On behalf of BCCHS, we’d like to thank Señora Dicken for her valuable lessons on both Spanish and life, her unforgettable friendships with coworkers, and her commitment to loving and guiding her students.
