Cynthia Yarno, the French teacher for LHS, planned to retire after her 25th year of teaching. But this school year, she is back at LHS part-time, now in her 26th year of teaching.
In the spring she retired from teaching and many were sad to see her go.
“I was asked to come back and I didn’t want to leave the kids that signed up for French without a teacher,” Yarno said. Then she added, “…and I missed it.”
Yarno noted after retirement she was planning on traveling, camping, hiking, and fishing.
“[But] the biggest problem has been I don’t want to do that stuff alone, so I thought I’d find people to do things with” in her work routine, she said.
Yarno shared that she enjoys her students, especially those in French 3.
“They know me, I know them, and they’re the ones that have stuck with me and are really interested in learning it,” she said.
For the French 3 students who saw Yarno back in her classroom, they said they were confused but very happy they didn’t have to start over with a new teacher who didn’t know them.
Yarno had to learn French for 10 years or more to teach it professionally, though she originally got her degree in Spanish.
She said the hardest part about teaching a foreign language is when students don’t understand the concept of learning and retaining information.
“It’s not really learning if you don’t retain it,” Yarno said. “But if you don’t learn it in my class, you really can’t succeed moving forward. You have to use what you’ve learned in the past to build on it.”
Laini Enyeart, a French 3 student, had advice for future students or those struggling with French.
“It’s not one of those classes that is super easy, so it’s definitely something that you have to work at,” Enyeart said. “I think a lot of people struggle with that. But if that’s something that interests you, it’s definitely a good class to take.”
Other French students, Serenity Dobyns and Loki Villareyna, suggested that foreign language students should make notecards, practice with apps like Blooket and Duolingo, and to not be afraid to ask for help.
It’s better to ask for help than to struggle and never understand what you’re doing and fail the class because of it.
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