The school year has begun, with several exciting new changes in administration and staffing! This includes the arrival of Littleton High School’s new French teacher, Mr. Derek Fearon. Now that LHS has begun to get into the swing of the school year, Fearon has kicked off his teaching journey with enthusiasm and excitement.
This school year, he will be teaching two French 1 classes, a combined French 2 and 3 culture class, French 2 honors, and French 3 honors.
Similarly to our own LHS students, Fearon started his French education at a public high school in Colorado. He credits his teachers for infusing the love of French into him, which led him to pursue a degree in French at college. For the past two years, he has lived in Washington DC and, during this past year, worked in a French bakery where he had to speak French alongside his coworkers and customers. It allowed him to connect with people that he hadn’t connected with before, a gift that he wants to especially give to the students in his home community of Littleton.
When asked why learning French was so special compared to learning other languages, Fearon highlighted the vast global reach and fun culture. “Two things. One: French is the national language of the most countries in the world. So, there’s more countries in the world that speak French than any other language… I think that you get access, by area and by number of countries, a wider access to places. Number two, I think the food is awesome. I think the food is the best among other types of food [you can learn to make]. I think that there are a lot of French food names and a lot of French places; two important things.”
Fearon also urges students to approach French class with bravery, enthusiasm, and vulnerability, which are three qualities that he believes will lead to the best learning experience.
“I think that being brave, being enthusiastic, and being vulnerable or putting yourself out there. So I think being brave, we’re learning this language and for a lot of us, especially French 1, there’s a lot of new sounds and words… We’re going to be brave this year and we’re going to see how much we’ll learn. Two, I think it’s so important to be excited. There’s so many cool things we can do: we can watch music videos, watch movies, meet different people, learn about different foods and festivals. So I think being excited is very important. We’re going to learn about being excited about doing a new thing. And, number three, being vulnerable and putting yourself out there. I want students to feel like they can be safe here, most importantly, and try and not feel bad about failing. Because there’s no failing here. They’re just growing. So, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
In addition to a great attitude, Fearon also emphasizes the importance of empathy in his classroom and the world outside of Littleton.
“I think that the top thing I want students to develop from my class is empathy because we’re going to learn a lot of things. We’re going to learn how to conjugate verbs. We’re going to learn all about grammar. We’re going to learn all about vocabulary. But, why are we doing it? I want them to take away the fact that there are people who speak a different language than them who have different customs and eat different foods. I’m trying to demystify that. I’m trying to develop a sense of empathy for people who are not like them, specifically those who do not speak English.”
With his passion for the French language and culture, Fearon is already making a positive change on the LHS community. We look forward to seeing what he will continue to accomplish here!
