May 16, 2008
Contact: Caroline Jenkins Hanna
Director of Media Relations
413/542-8417
AMHERST, Mass.—Amherst College student Kayla Andrews ’08, an English and French major from Asheville, N.C., has been awarded a French Government Teaching Assistantship. The honor will enable her to pursue her love of teaching, test and develop her convictions regarding foreign language study and broaden her understanding of contemporary French identity, she said.
During her undergraduate years, Andrews tutored French elementary, high school and university students in English; interned at nonprofit theaters in both Paris and New York and helped found The Five College Literary Review, a student-organized magazine of creative writing. She also attended Middlebury College’s French School, an intense language-immersion program, and spent two semesters in France as part of a study abroad program.
She hopes to continue teaching at the middle and/or high school levels after completing her assistantship and eventually enroll in a graduate program in French language and literature.
The French Ministry of Education and the Cultural Services at the French Embassy offer approximately 1,500 such teaching assistant positions in French primary and secondary schools, as well as in various French teaching colleges in all regions of France and in various French holdings. According to its Web site, the assistantship is an opportunity to spend six to nine months in France, learn about contemporary French society, master the language through linguistic immersion and gain valuable teaching experience.
Founded in 1821, Amherst is a highly selective, coeducational liberal arts college with approximately 1,600 students from most of the 50 states and more than 30 other countries. Considered one of the nation’s best educational institutions, Amherst awards the B. A. degree in 34 fields of study.
###