Profe Milne Shares Her Love of Spanish and Farming

Katrin Milne, or as her students call her, Profe Milne, has loved Spanish for as long as she can remember. “I was better at Spanish than any other subject, especially math and science,” she chuckled. “I just always enjoyed it and seemed to have a knack for it.”

After earning her Spanish degree at NC State, Profe Milne took a job at the sheriff’s office in Charlotte, a natural fit since both her parents worked in law enforcement.

“All the Spanish speakers would come to me,” she said. “I had a degree in Spanish, but I didn’t feel super confident. So I thought, how can I improve it? Let me move to Spain.”

That leap of faith shaped her path. “I took a position teaching English to people of all ages and felt completely comfortable in the classroom,” she said. “I was like, this is definitely what I want to do.”

For Profe Milne, Spanish class is about more than grammar or vocabulary.

“I hope by taking my class, students see that language can really take you places and unlock a whole culture,” she said. “Maybe it inspires them to travel. I encourage them to study abroad. Travel is really important.”

Her experiences have taken her beyond Spain to Chile, Peru, and Puerto Rico. “Immersion is the best way to learn a language. Having a basis of grammar helps, but to just immerse yourself, that’s where you really learn.”

Returning to the U.S., Milne eventually took a position at Pender Early College High School. She taught high school Spanish for six years while completing her master’s at UNCW. In 2018, she joined CFCC full-time.

Seeing students succeed is her favorite part of teaching.

“I see students even from my high school days, and they’ll tell me they studied abroad or minored in Spanish. When they stick with me for three semesters and say, ‘Hey, profe, I traveled to Colombia,’ that’s really rewarding.”

Outside the classroom, Milne and her husband own Red Beard Farms in Willard.

“We sell to a lot of local restaurants around here, like Seabird , Rx Chicken and Oysters , Salita Pizza , PinPoint , Origins , and King Neptune . We also do a produce subscription box and are at The Wilmington Farmers Market at Tidal Creek every Saturday, rain or shine.”

Owning a farm has also influenced her approach to teaching.

“When it comes to farming, the weather is out of our control, and the same is true in the classroom. We can control ourselves and our content, but we can’t always control the challenges students face. And then there are seasons. There’s a season for everything, and that’s true in teaching, too.”