After 38 years at FHC and 41 years of teaching, beloved French teacher Laurie Van Houten has made the decision to retire.
It’s her son, senior Jonathan Van Houten’s, final year at FHC, and it has always been the plan for Van Houten to leave along with him. While this comes with a lot of emotions, Van Houten is very grateful for her time here and for the wonderful opportunity to get to know all of her students and co-workers.
“[I’ve loved] the pride that goes along with working at Forest Hills Central and all of the students and staff,” Van Houten said. “The students are motivated and want to learn, and the staff have become great friends and are also motivated to teach well.”
Throughout her time at FHC, she has taught a wide variety of students. However, because she is the only French teacher, she teaches the same kids every year and only gets a few new classes each year. This is something about Van Houten’s position that is so wonderful to her.
As she has the same kids every year, she gets to know them personally instead of only knowing them on a surface level. She has learned countless things from her students over her many years of teaching, but one specific thing has really stuck with her above all.
“I’ve learned to look down the road and say, ‘Okay, six months from now, will it matter if I do this or that?’ This kind of helps me know how to answer some questions,” Van Houten said. “For instance, when I had a student whose grandparents were French, and they wanted to take her out of school for a week to go to France. She was a very motivated student, and she didn’t want to go. Her grandfather had cancer, so it was going to be her only chance. That was when I talked to her and said, ‘In six months, what’s going to be more important? Having that time with your grandparents or being in school?’ I try to kind of look at that often in my life.”
Van Houten has experienced countless different memories and moments throughout her teaching career. Whether it’s something as big as the French exchange students coming from Strasbourg, France, or taking her students to France, or something as small as a quick conversation with an old student, Van Houten appreciates every little moment throughout her school day.
Since she teaches her students a language they very rarely hear, it can take a lot to teach it. There are thousands of vocabulary words and hundreds of little grammar rules that can be difficult to remember and understand for a lot of students.
“There are too many [favorite moments of teaching] to count,” Van Houten said. “When kids make me laugh, when there is an ‘aha moment’ when they’re working on grammar. When they’re not getting it, and all of a sudden, I’ll think of a different way to do it, and it’s like ‘Oh, it makes sense now.’”
While there are so many wonderful things about being a teacher, being with her students is Van Houten’s number one reason for continuing for 41 years. There are so many small, seemingly insignificant moments that she has carried on for so long and that she will continue to carry on forever.
“[Being a teacher] keeps me energized,” Van Houten said. “I like being around young people and their energy, and it keeps me young. I like getting to know a lot of people and hopefully getting them interested in a topic that I like.”
French is a language that Van Houten is very passionate about, and she wants to help her students become passionate about French as well. She spends so much time in her classroom and with her students, and throughout her time at FHC, she has helped so many kids become fluent in the language.
While she may not continue speaking it on a daily basis, even after retiring from being a French teacher, Van Houten hopes to enhance her knowledge and experience in French. She hopes to perfect her language and continue speaking it on trips to France.
“[After retirement], I want to do some traveling,” Van Houten said. “I would go anywhere in the world. I’m hoping to be able to go to places that I’ve never been, as well as going back to France and spending maybe a month or six weeks there, so that I can really work on my language.”
While after her retirement she may not be helping students learn French, she hopes to continue helping others in different ways. She plans to volunteer at her church and also show her love for dogs through volunteering at the Humane Society. She is hoping to keep herself busy through volunteering and singing in the choirs that she is a part of.
Even with all of the ways that Van Houten hopes to stay busy, she is still worried about what will happen after retirement. She has been FHC’s French teacher for 38 years, and after this year, that will suddenly change. While it can be scary to leave the place she has been for so long, she will always be loved and missed by her former students.
“I am a little sad, but I’m excited for the future,” Van Houten said. “It’s going to be very strange because I’ve done this for so long; this is my life, and this is my identity. It’s kind of scary; what am I going to be if I’m not Madame the French teacher anymore?”
