Sally Sutherland is a French teacher at Mountain Brook High School. In this interview, she shares how she decided to become a French teacher and what she loves about her job.
Q: How long have you been a teacher and what subjects do you teach?
A: I've been teaching for going-on eight years and I teach French.
Q: What inspired you to become an educator?
A: Growing up, I had two great loves: French and theater. And, all through schooling, I had no idea how those would ever come together. But, it wasn't until I was teaching English in Paris after college, that I realized this is a perfect fit for me becauseI love engaging an audience and I love speaking French, so two worlds collided.
Q: Tell us about your favorite teacher from when you were in school.
A: I wish I had way more time to answer this question because I could just gush about all of the French teachers I had from ninth grade through 12th grade at Mountain Brook High School.
But, starting from the beginning, my ninth grade teacher, Madame Parker, truly instilled such a deep and, for me, very enduring love of French and Francophone culture and changed the entire course of my life. So, I'm forever grateful to her.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher?
A: The most rewarding part of being a teacher for me is definitely witnessing students’ growth first-hand, not just their proficiency level in French, which is obviously so fun, but, really, their growth and their confidence in themselves and their abilities to handle challenging situations. That is so rewarding to see from even the beginning of the year to the end of the year; how they have more and more confidence in themselves and their ability.
