Strikingly, French teacher Madame Finnegan, who is entering her 25th year of teaching, did not take French when she was in high school, she took Latin. 

Her journey of becoming a French teacher started when she studied abroad in Rouen, France during her junior year of high school. This trip was a life-changing experience for her because it sparked her love for the French language and culture. Finnegan said, “It completely changed my life. I fell in love with France and the French language. When you learn a language, you don’t just learn the language, but you learn about history, literature and art.“

One of Finnegan’s favorite moments from this trip to Rouen was that she was living with a French family and got to take classes at the University of Rouen. Finnegan knew the basic words and phrases used in the French language by picking up the conversation from people talking French around her while she was growing up and during the trip. Speaking French in everyday conversation was challenging for Finnegan, “Everything was in French, so I really had to be able to use the language.” 

Finnegan learned something new about the language every day, which helped her later on in her career of teaching French. While in Rouen, she also got to go to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and England, which made her realize that she loved learning about new cultures and that she wanted to educate other people on certain cultures. 

Another step Finnegan took to become a French teacher was after college when she moved to Vermont. In Vermont she got a job at a ski school. She did not know how to ski, but the school needed a teacher that could speak French. Finnegan stepped right up. Finnegan went to Vermont because she loved it there, and she went with her sister for her sister’s senior year of college at the University of Vermont. This experience was the start to her career, “I really enjoyed that experience and working with the students. Eventually, I went back to school to get my teaching certificate and the rest is history.”

Finnegan found out about the ski school when she couldn’t find a job in Burlington, Vermont. While in Burlington, she saw an ad for a ski school in Killington and applied. The ski school’s name was Killington Mountain School, located in Killington, Vermont. This school was different compared to Morgan, “Classes did not start until after lunch because the students trained in the morning.  We would usually all eat lunch together, and classes started after lunch and went until 5 or 6 at night”, Finnegan stated. 

Along with teaching in Vermont, Finnegan taught English in Japan for two years at a private school. The college that she was attending in Vermont, had a connection to the school in Japan, and they recruited people directly from Saint Micheal’s college, a local Vermont college where Finnegan was taking classes while teaching. One of her professors suggested that she should apply for a teaching job in Japan. She got the job when she was 33 years old, and worked in Japan from 1996 to 1998. 

Finnegan ended up loving Japan, “I was able to see a colleague I had been working with in Vermont compete in the Nagano Olympics.  That was really amazing.” 

With 24 years of teaching experience, Finnegan makes French class a fun and enjoyable atmosphere according to her students. Before coming to Morgan, Finnegan spent 14 years teaching at Westbrook High School, which gave her a strong foundation in her education of world language. She started studying French in her sophomore year of college when she needed a language credit. She was a low intermediate student at best. 

Sophomore Kiera Flannigan has had a very good experience learning from Finnegan, “Since we have all had Madame as a French teacher since 8th grade, we have gotten to know her better. Going to France with her and getting to learn more was a memorable moment for me.”

Finnegan finds it challenging to express her all-time favorite memory from teaching. There are too many. However, what she likes most about being a French teacher is having the opportunity to do exchanges – a program where French students come to our school for a week and see what life is like in the U.S. While teaching at Westbrook, she ran an exchange with a school in Marseille, France for seven years. 

While teaching at Morgan, she ran exchanges for another seven years. During that time, she traveled three times with the students. She enjoys showing them around, “I have really enjoyed the exchanges I have done. I love going to Boston and to the Yale Art Museum with the French and American students together.  It’s great to hear them learning from each other.” 

Finnegan is constantly expressing her love for exchanges, “I love learning about different cultures and I love to travel. Doing the exchanges is my way of trying to share what I love and allow students to experience other cultures.”

Finnegan’s love for teaching goes deeper than just learning vocabulary or grammar. She believes that teaching is way more than this, “When you learn a language, you don’t just learn the language, you learn about history, literature, and art.” Finnegan believes that teaching French opens students’ eyes to see how connected French and English cultures are.

Finnegan is a very busy teacher compared to most. She splits her day into teaching at both Morgan and Eliot. Throughout the day, she teaches students from 7th to 12th grade. This is very challenging given that every class is taught differently based on experience and understanding of the language.  

Despite being very busy, she still finds time to stay active outside of school. Finnegan enjoys working out, practicing yoga, gardening, or baking bread. If Finnegan was not a French teacher she is not quite sure what she would be doing, “I wanted to be a journalist, but I am not sure now.  I might like to work with plants and gardening in some capacity.”

Fellow teachers have helped Finnegan out a lot, but the teacher who has helped her the most is Señora Luther. Finnegan expressed her friendship with Señora Luther, “Señora Luther has been a great leader for the World Language Department. She has provided a lot of support, guidance and friendship.”

Students in French classes really appreciate Finnegan and all her hard work. Sophomore Abbie Graham really likes Finnegan as a teacher, “madame is good at making sure students are comfortable with the language. Especially since we started in seventh grade and not kindergarten like Spanish.”