It’s not hard to tell what Mary Ellen Fuller teaches at Pomona High School. Her classroom door is decorated with photos of her students beaming during their summer trips to France. In the hall, she greets students with a chipper “Bonjour!”
Fuller often doesn’t find out how her class impacts students who graduate and start a new life at college. But her enthusiasm was recognized one day in the form of a simple letter from Butler University in Indianapolis.
Mallory Winters, a former Pomona High School student now attending Butler, nominated Fuller for a teaching excellence award. Ninety-four teachers were recognized nationally by Butler students for making a difference in their lives.
“Ms. Fuller is a wonderful French teacher. I have a love of the language because of her innovative and creative teaching style,” said Winters, who took Fuller’s class for two years. She is now a freshman in college.
Fuller said she was pleasantly surprised to get the unexpected praise, but isn’t surprised the shout out came from one of her best students.
“Mallory is just fabulous, and we just truly loved having her in class because she was engaged in the language,” she said.
Fuller said her committed students keep her coming back to class each day. A special type of student chooses French class over Spanish, she said.
“I think some kids take Spanish because their parents tell them to or they think they have to,” she said. “Students who like French really want to be there.”
But Fuller acknowledges that Spanish classes often have better resources because there are more native-speaking students and because the language is more prevalent in Colorado.
Fuller is constantly looking for new ways to illuminate the language for her students, but her favorite is the summer trip she takes with students every two years. The group tours Paris, Normandy and other historical sites.
It’s essential for students to interact in the language they learn in class each day, she said.
“If you don’t have anyone to talk to (in French), the only time you’re going to get the flow of speaking is if you go there,” she said.
Fuller said the France trip does wonders not only for her students’ speaking abilities, but also their self-esteem.
“I’m amazed how confident they get over a two-week period,” she said.
Winters said Fuller’s French class has definitely impacted her self-image.
“I feel very confident in my abilities with the French language, and I was always encouraged to use this confidence in every aspect of life,” she said.
With globalization on the rise, being comfortable speaking another language is more important than ever, Fuller said. Although Jeffco Public Schools requires high school students to complete just two years of a world language, Fuller hopes to see students enrolling in three or more years, she said.
Foreign language is a major key to understanding not just how other people speak, but how they live their lives.
“At Pomona, we are teaching Spanish and Chinese, but we’re also teaching them they need to learn about other cultures,” she said.