KETTERING FRENCH TEACHER WINS NATIONAL AWARD

Mary Townsend, ODE Master Teacher, French Teacher, Kettering Fairmont High School

Mary Townsend, French teacher at Kettering Fairmont High School, was recently named recipient of the Valette / American Association of Teachers of French Legacy Award. This national award is given to the AATF member teacher whose program has shown significant growth over the last 3-5 years. The French program at Fairmont has enjoyed tremendous growth over the last four years, adding the equivalent of four full sections of students during this time. Since 2015, Fairmont’s French program has been recognized as “Exemplary with Honors” by AATF. A stipend accompanies the Valette award and she was able to spend four weeks in France and Switzerland attending classes to perfect her language skills.

Fairmont French Club membership has increased 5-fold during this period and dozens of students are inducted into the Sociéte d’Honneur Français National French Honor Society each spring. During this time about 75 students received national laureate status on the National French Test with hundreds more receiving state and local honors. Her students have won the National Essay Contest, the National Poetry Contest, and SHF Travel Scholarships.

She has taught all levels of French, including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, and has accompanied 100 FHS students to France. Her principal quotes “No one has more of an impact on her students or on her school than she.” Madame Townsend was also honored as the Ohio Outstanding World Language Teacher for 2018 by the Ohio Foreign Language Association.

Townsend holds a BA in French and a MS in Education, both from the University of Dayton. A long-time resident of Kettering, she and her husband Tom are the parents of three grown daughters and are enjoying their new role as grandparents.

Madame Townsend, an Ohio Department of Education Master Teacher, was also honored as the Ohio Leona Glenn Award Recipient for Outstanding World Language Teacher for 2018 by the Ohio Foreign Language Association.