This year at Barstow there are many new faculty members, including the new French teacher, Mme. Valluet. She was hired at Barstow after the departure of Mme. Coventry and will be teaching middle school French and French I. Although she has only been at Barstow for less than a month, she already feels at home within the community.
“My experience at Barstow has been excellent,” Mme. Valluet said. “People have been very helpful, even before I met them in person.”
Mme. Valluet has been a teacher since 2004, working at various schools and teaching many different kinds of people. During the completion of her Master’s degree in Orleans, France, Mme. Valluet taught adults. Later, in the United States, she taught highschool and grade school. As well as teaching, she has worked as a caregiver for the elderly, and says that she can work well with anyone of any age, that helping people and being a teacher comes naturally to her.
This being her first year working at Barstow, Mme. Valluet has just started to get settled in. She has a schedule packed with faculty meetings, new routines, and methods to master. “I have to learn a new method and learn from the new textbook at Barstow,” she said. “That’s kind of new to me, but otherwise it’s pretty normal.”
Mme. Valluet’s classroom is well decorated and nicely organized with many different posters adorning the walls. On one of her walls is a map of France, where she proudly pointed out her hometown, Blois. Located in the scenic Loire Valley, France, Blois is famous for its grand castles and wine production.
After moving to the United States, Mme. Valluet lived in Minneapolis where she worked as a high school French teacher. She then moved to Kansas City in 2008 after receiving a job at Académie Lafayette, a French immersion school in Kansas City. “People [in Kansas City] are really nice, I really like it,” she said.
After working at Academie Lafayette, Mme. Valluet did substitute teaching in other schools around Kansas City. Then pivoted from education by working with the elderly as a caretaker. “I was looking for a french teacher position in the city, and I heard about the position from a former student of both Academie Lafayette and Barstow,” she said. “So I came and I applied, was interviewed by Mr. Fox, and got the position.”
Despite it being only the first month at school, other teachers came into Mme. Valluet’s room and spoke with her, well acquainted and familiar with each other. She described the environment at Barstow to be very friendly and respectful, making some of the stress of being a new teacher easier. “It’s a little overwhelming sometimes, but people make it very easy because everyone is helping each other,” she said.
Mme. Valluet said that even after the short time she has spent teaching here, she can already tell that it will be a good year and a good experience. “I’m super super grateful to be here,” she said with a smile.
