As The Seven Hills School winds down the academic year, its community started the year enriched by the new opportunity to embrace changes. This time, such changes were represented by the school’s freshly acquired teacher, Mademoiselle Roux, who started her first year of work at the high school level. Her rich education and experienced approach to the subject of her expertise brought not only a new perspective to the French class but also an enthusiasm for projects and learning and teaching in general.
From Dijon to Cincinnati: Journey of Education and Passion
Roux originates from a quiet village near Dijon, France, while also pursuing most of her education and passion to educate others, not just students, abroad. She completed her bachelor’s in English with a minor in education work at the University of Burgundy. Roux’s passion for literature and philosophy then took her to Austria and, later, to the United States –here the teacher continued studying while also working at Miami University and inspiring others in the humanities along with her interest and global experience.
The transition to Seven Hills
Transition from student and university-level teacher to the bustling activity of a high school brought fresh challenges and other opportunities. “This is my first year teaching high school; it has been a lot of learning! I’m teaching, but I’m learning a lot in the process,” Roux shared her views on the process. The transition to Seven Hills occurred due to her desire to continue teaching work and her growing fond of Ohio. “I mean, I really did like Ohio, and I really like Cincinnati. I really like how people are so nice!” Roux shared her love for Ohio and a warm welcome.
Roux’s journey from France to the U.S. has been one of adaptation and exchange of cultures. The teacher compared the American and French ways of life and education system. “There are a lot [of differences]! Everything is so far apart, the way that you view your surroundings is much more spread apart and less connected,” she said about American life. The teacher also noticed that U.S. high schoolers have more freedom in choosing their subjects for study and extracurriculars than those in France do.
Looking back on her first year, Roux realizes that she was both teaching and learning how to teach. She believes in her technique that does not just focus on the language but on bridging the transatlantic gaps between cultures. Seven Hills students benefited from Roux’s teaching in the most direct way – as someone grounded in French culture, literature, and philosophical ideas with her help, they discovered this distant but important part of the world.
Excited to continue her journey, Roux plans to make her classes even more interactive and inspire her students to follow her example. “Teaching is learning process,” she says as a motto of her life and a wish for her students to never quench their thirst for knowledge. As the school year winds down, Roux and her students are already looking forward to more adventures, proving that education does not stop when you walk out of the school’s door – it just opens.