It was the first day of my freshman year, and I was nervous. I got to first hour French ten minutes early, just to make sure I wouldn’t be late. As the rest of the class filed in, my nerves dwindled and I was excited to start my first class. The first bell rang and in walked Ms. Armour, who I would soon know as Mademoiselle.

A slew of French was followed by the very first, “Bonjour, tout le monde!” [Hello, everyone!] And back were my nerves. She spoke in rapid, fluent French as the class sat stunned, worried we signed up for the wrong class.

I am now in my fourth year of French with Mademoiselle, and can understand almost everything she says. She only speaks in French during class, and her students are expected to do the same. She makes her thoughts easy to understand, even though she is using unfamiliar vocabulary. If we have a question, we must figure out a way to communicate it with “pas d'anglais!” [no English!]

Mademoiselle makes sure class is never boring; she is always coming up with games and activities to practice vocabulary and grammar. Instead of quietly drilling definitions into our heads or reading every word of our textbook, she splits the class into teams and puts us on the spot. Whether it’s hunting down a definition on the overhead projector, holding up a whiteboard with the correct verb form, or having the perfectly formed sentence written on the board opposite your opponent, most of Mademoiselle’s lesson is known to the class at the end of the hour.

My favorite time of the year is when the foreign exchange students come to visit. Mademoiselle orders pizza and we talk to the French kids (or at least try). We must speak in French, while they have to speak in English. We aren’t always able to ask the questions we want or respond with perfect form, but the class ends up learning a lot about the average kid in France and how their life differs from our own.

Her teaching of French isn’t limited to the classroom--Mademoiselle is also the leader of our school’s French club, where she organizes different after-school activities to further our understanding of the French culture. She also puts together the trip to France, where students put their skills to the test.

The dedication that Mademoiselle has to teaching is something I have never experienced with any other teacher. She is as caring as a momma bear to a cub. If you take a test, she has them graded and ready the next day. If you are sick, there is a pile of papers sitting on your desk when you get back. If you are struggling with a lesson, she will find a time that works for you to come in for help--even if that means staying at school late or coming in early.

Though she is known to the rest of the world as Ramona Armour, she will always be Mademoiselle to me. She is one of the most caring and compassionate teachers I have ever been taught by, and I am lucky to have been able to learn the French language from her for the past four years.