TEACHER'S CORNER: TEACHER HAS SHARED LOVE OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WITH STUDENTS FOR 24 YEARS

JACKSON -- The best part of teaching a foreign language for Jackson High School French teacher Darlene Houchins is the opportunity she gets to open doors in her students' lives. She said she isn't always successful, but when she is, her students have a way of letting her share in their excitement.

"I decided after studying and living in Paris for a semester that I wanted to teach -- to open the doors of opportunity to others and to cause them to experience the excitement," she said. "I'm not always successful, but the post card written by a former student saying "I was thinking about you as I enjoyed the French exhibits. Thanks.", and the post cards from the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben from former students who heed my words and ventured out of their own comfortable settings make up for those who find learning a foreign language tedious."

Houchins has shared her love of the French language and culture with students for 24 years, 19 of them spent in the Jackson school district. An annual project for French II students has been to have them write or translate stories in French, then share them with beginning French students. That project will likely change next year, however, when Houchins's daughter begins her first year as a kindergarten teacher in Jackson.

"We have shared them with younger French students in the past, but now, with a daughter teaching elementary students, I hope to be able to send my students to them to interest them at a very young age in foreign language," she said.

Houchins, a self-proclaimed "Air Force Brat," was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and spent her childhood travelling around the world with her parents. She now lives in Woodland with her husband, Tom, and son Jared, who attends Woodland High School. She is involved in numerous professional and community activities in the region.