“Lover of French culture, excellent pep-talker, and advocate of self-awareness, Madame Vaughan is more than just another AHS teacher. Her eccentric personality combined with a teaching style that is out of this world makes learning French so much more interesting and enjoyable.

Madame Vaughan’s idiosyncratic teaching style mixed with her quirky humor provides amusement for a typical and dull grammar lesson. Not only does Madame Vaughan follow up with the French textbook closely, but she also tosses out interesting fun facts pertaining to the lesson. These often lead to a multitude of tangents which can become vastly interesting yet educational. Miraculously, Madame Vaughan does an outstanding job at teaching the material while getting off-topic simultaneously. By using these tangents, she is able to captivate her audience for a long time, even those who are exhausted by the end of sixth period. Being a teacher of AP French as well, Madame Vaughan teaches the lower levels of French with a touch of the higher French levels. In addition to her detailed and precise teaching, there will always be a constant familial atmosphere in her classroom because Madame Vaughan encourages her students to help and support each other. In her class, a system of tremendous teamwork exists to lay the foundation down. Madame Vaughan is constantly stressing the importance and significance of partners because she believes that it will benefit everyone. And she was correct. A day never goes by when a student doesn’t need the help of a partner. This support system that Madame Vaughan has created works tremendously well among everyone.

Madame Vaughan reminds her students that she is not here to fail them, just to teach them French. She cares about each and every one of her students, no matter what reputation each student may hold. She is very perseverant when it comes to students who are struggling in her class. Madame Vaughan truly wants her class to exceed just the normal expectations of a student. In addition, she gives out many opportunities to improve grades through excessive extra credit. From grading tests and quizzes to turning in assignment early, extra credit becomes a student’s best friend.  Given that extra credit is optional, Madame Vaughan gives it out like candy because it allows students to want to learn French that is beyond the textbook. Not only does it provide a terrific grade booster, but it also shows how Madame Vaughan encourages her students to learn above the required minimum.

There are three traits that distinguish Madame Vaughan from any other teacher: understanding, empathetic, and compassionate. She understands the troubles and dilemmas of an everyday student because she was one. Yes, every teacher was once a student, but unlike Madame Vaughan, she shares her experiences and struggles to help her own class. Out of the goodness of her heart, Madame Vaughan gives life-lessons to her students in hope that they too will understand and succeed. She encourages her students to embrace and learn from their flaws or mistakes because she sees it as self-improvement. Although she has never experienced the stressful life of an AHS student, she understands the difficulties and obstacles. She understands that self-esteem is an issue at AHS given that it is a very competitive school. But despite all that, Madame Vaughan believes in her students that success comes to those who work hard at it.

Merci beaucoup, Madame!” ”  —Vivian Kwang, Pow Wow, Writer