An interview with madame brigitte savard
By Sophia Jerome
As many students may know, Madame Savard is the new French teacher here at MHS. On Friday afternoon, I had the pleasure of interviewing her to find out a little bit more about why she chose MHS, what her favorite part of being a teacher is, and most importantly, her favorite animal.
Q: Why MHS?
Madame Savard lives in Montpelier and moved to Montpelier specifically for MHS. She had always wanted to work at MHS because she had heard it was an incredible school and knew many people who work or had worked at the high school. She was beaming as she exclaimed, “It’s been my dream job… For a long time.”
Q: What is your favorite part about being a teacher at MHS?
Savard loves the students as well as her colleagues at MHS. She discussed the school’s productive and supportive environment, saying, “I feel like it is a very positive culture in which they learn.”
Q: Why did you choose to teach French?
French is her first language, and she grew up speaking it. Although she has taught multiple subjects in the past such as sailing and writing, she feels as though French is her natural calling. Madame Savard loves languages and thinks they are powerful, and so consequently believes that it makes sense for her to teach what she is best at and most passionate about.
Q: Do you have a role model?
Savard has many teacher role models that she admires, both from past jobs and from when she was a student herself. One of her goals for this school year is to go around the building and meet other teachers to experience their teaching styles and gain wisdom and techniques that she previously was not accustomed to. As far as teaching philosophy goes, she had this to say: “I hope that I follow a philosophy where it is engaging and challenging. Finding that balance.”
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Q: How would someone describe you?
“Well, I can be a little spontaneous, I like to travel and I like adventures. And I guess my children call me overprotective.” Savard is also very towards for her family and friends, and is an outdoorsy kind of person.
Q: What do you think the key is to maintain a good teacher/student relationship?
Madame Savard believes that humor is important in keeping a positive environment, where you can have a space to laugh, while also learning. She also says, “I think trust and mutual respect are big. I hope that I can cultivate that here, that I earn people’s trust and know that it’s reciprocal.”
Q: What are your opinions on the phone policy as a new teacher?
Madame Savard explains that she is torn about the policy. She says that she does not want to have to be a “police person” for student in-class phone activity. She thinks it is important to build a relationship between teachers and students and she believes it is difficult to cultivate these relationships if one of her jobs is to moderate the student’s phone use by confiscating the device or issuing constant reminders. The part of the phone policy she enjoys the most is not having to say, “Hey, put that phone away!” because the phone is already away. She has yet to take away a phone, and thinks that if the phones were to be a problem, it would put the teacher and student into an unnecessary adverse relationship.
Q: What is your favorite animal?
Madame B says that her favorite animal is the platypus. She loves the platypus because, “It doesn’t easily fit categories, and I like that about it.” She likes that it is such a dynamic creature that cannot be restrained to customary labels and, and thinks that notion is also mirrored in her teaching style.