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| Mr. Kuhn passes out papers while his second period students complete an assignment. |
Staff Writer
Apex High brought back French for the 2011-2012 school year, and this semester James Kuhn is taking a traditional approach to teaching the language as the newest member to the Apex family.
Previously
teaching English in both France and Japan, Kuhn has now been teaching French in
the U.S. for eight years. In college he
majored in French, but returned to earn Master’s degrees in teaching and counseling,
both jobs that he’s had experience with now. Kuhn said that his inspiration to
study French in college came from his own high school French teacher. “She had
traveled all over the world to almost every country,” remarked Kuhn, “she just
made it sound so exciting.”
With
all his teaching experience, Kuhn had some very important advice for students.
“High school drama won’t mean anything in five years. The things that will
matter are your grades, because they follow you.” Kuhn suggested that students
“focus on their future” and use high school as a stepping stone for their goals.
Above all, Kuhn said that students should not take it personally when a teacher
calls them out on something. “We’re here to help, and that’s what we’re trying
to do,” he states.
Besides
teaching and traveling, Kuhn enjoys exercising and reading, though choosing one
absolute favorite book is too difficult. “There are way too many for me to pick
one,” he explains. His favorite movie, however, is The Shawshank Redemption, and
his top television picks include Flashpoint
and American Idol. Kuhn said he mainly
enjoys watching the latter for the amusing tryouts before the actual
competition starts.
Kuhn
said that he is “happy to be here,” and that he finds Apex students to be
“polite and hardworking, [as well as] serious about their grades.” However, he
thinks that the French students “don’t quite know what to make of me yet.” Kuhn
hopes to promote a productive learning environment as well as to show his
unique personality.
