Over the summer, LASA lost one of its French teachers, leaving the LASA administration hunting for a replacement before the start of the 2019 school year. Students who were scheduled to take AP French 4 were assigned a substitute teacher for the first two weeks of the year. A new teacher wasn’t officially instituted until the week of September 2, when most of the other language courses were already starting their regular curriculum.

Catherine Cledelin is acting as the French 4 teacher until a permanent one is found for LASA. Cledelin said taking the temporary role of the French teacher was a struggle, especially considering it was a last-minute role to fill and she was given little time to prepare.

“I didn’t start on the first day so that’s been a bit challenging,” Cledelin said. “I always have a problem with remembering names, but getting settled, getting a badge, getting a parking permit has been difficult. Finding my way around to making photocopies or getting books and things like that, that’s a bit challenging.”

Some students currently in lower levels of French said they were concerned with how this will affect their future in the language. Hailey Ripp, a freshman in French 2, explained her unease about having a new teacher who has not been at LASA long enough to establish a reputation.

“With a new teacher, there’s always going to be anxiety about what they’re like because there aren’t upperclassman to warn or console you about the teacher,” Ripp said. “Overall, a new teacher could be a nice change of pace.”

Freshman Martin D’Andrea said he hopes for a teacher who is passionate in the way they teach. He also enjoys teachers who can keep students engaged.

“It’s good that they build a relationship with the students,” D’Andrea said. “They should really actually enjoy teaching French. They should teach it because they love the language.”