She is one of 19 teachers chosen nationally for the Ministry of Education language immersion awards for 2010.
The awards are organised in conjunction with AFS.
A food and fabric technology teacher, Ms Thomas also started teaching languages at the school last year.
A Waitaki Boys High School community class in Spanish had been "really valuable" in helping her with both her Spanish pronunciation and knowledge of the culture.
Ms Thomas first learned about the immersion awards when a colleague spent a month in Asia several years ago.
With a background in French and Italian, and having spent a year living in Italy in 2005, she had a passion for languages.
She applied for a Spanish exchange and could have been sent to any Spanish-speaking country.
She flies to Buenos Aires on March 19 but does not yet know where she will be staying.
Ms Thomas was excited about the opportunity for hands-on learning.
"You can only learn so much in your own country," she said.
While there were plenty of authentic resources on the internet, it was "not the same" as being in the country, she said.
Her Spanish language skills were basic but she was confident she would manage well, particularly given her experience in Italy.
Ms Thomas hoped to set up a blog so there could be contact between her and Oamaru Intermediate while she was away, and she also hoped to set up some contacts so when she returned, there would be resources pupils could "tap into".
