Along with the many new students that Ascension has gained this year, several new teachers have joined the faculty and staff. Madame Smith, or Ms. Smith, is the new French teacher this year, and she currently teaches French I, II, III, and IV. Madame Smith is one of few teachers here who teaches grades 8-12.

Madame Smith is originally from California and came to Lafayette to attend UL. She chose UL because of the rich culture here in Lafayette and the heavy French influence. Madame Smith stated that moving from California to Louisiana was a huge culture shock.

“When I first came to Lafayette, I was really shocked by the French culture here!” proclaimed Madame Smith.

Besides residing in Lafayette, Madame Smith has traveled quite a bit. She has been to Quebec, Canada, and to the south of France. And, when Madame Smith was in high school, her family was was a host family for two students from the south of France. Madame Smith therefore has many, many friends in France!

Along with traveling to French speaking countries, Madame Smith likes learning new things about the French language every day.

“Netflix has tons of cheesy french TV shows and movies,” she said.  “My favorite movie is Jeux d’enfant, which is like The Notebook, but better!”

Madame Smith states she really enjoys teaching French I and French IV. She likes teaching French I because high school hasn’t hit the eighth graders yet, and they still enjoy learning new things. She enjoys teaching French IV because students are learning about the French culture, and they have a food day every other week. Along with food days, Madame Smith finds many ways to incorporate fun into the classroom.

“The other day, I felt like my some of my freshmen weren’t participating, so I made them get on the ground and do 10 pushups.” Madame Smith said she does activities like these to help get the blood flowing.

One project Madame Smith has in store for her class is for students to writing 20 interesting things about themselves and then incorporate each fact into a shoe box. Another fun activity allows student to take pictures of bad things their pets have done and write about it in French. These are just a few ways Madame Smith brings fun into the classroom.

This is not only Madame Smith’s first year teaching at Ascension, but her first year teaching at a high school. She loves teaching and sharing her knowledge of the French language and culture. She states that all the teachers have been very kind to her and have helped her a lot this year. She said loves Ascension and its awesome students!