Most people know her as “Slayer,” but Spanish teacher Deirdre Magner does a lot more than just keep her students in line.

Magner got the nickname “Slayer” from her previous teaching job at Fairfield College Preparatory School. One of Magner’s students was playing around with his shoe during class and he flipped it off, almost knocking a picture down onto his head.

“I just looked at him and said, ‘Don’t ever do that again,’ and then some kid said ‘Oh, she slayed you,’ and he said ‘Yeah, she’s the slayer,’ and ever since then it stuck,” Magner said.

“She [Magner] will slay you if you get out of line. I have been slain many times for talking when I’m not supposed to,” junior Mackenzie Rayburn said.

In the past, Magner led trips to Spain for students.  She offered them once-in-a-lifetime experiences through immersion trips, a four-week trip to Spain with a home stay, classes at the Spanish school, and cultural activities such as visiting museums and taking trips outside of the city.

“I think she’s trying to get us to speak Spanish, which I appreciate, even though it’s challenging. I actually feel like I’m learning more Spanish,” sophomore Karly Horn said.

Magner has also helped Spanish students that visit America by offering them tours of Washington, D.C. She has been travelling with students since 2001 and last year decided it would be a fun thing to become a licensed tour guide. “I got licensed in the spring and have tours almost every weekend now,” Magner said.

Magner walked the Camino de Santiago, the nearly 500-mile route from southeastern France to the tomb of St. James in northwestern Spain three times. One trip, Magner taught some of her companions how to pray the rosary because they were not Catholic and did not know how.

While on the walk they had communal meals throughout the journey, cooking and eating together, sharing food and stories. “You meet very, very interesting people from all over the world and it’s totally a unique experience because it’s totally worth it,” Magner said.