VT-ENGAGE
Teach for Madame
Background:
On January 23, 2008, seven Virginia Tech undergraduates welcomed nearly 50 students in grades K-5 to the first after-school French Club at Blacksburg’s Harding Avenue Elementary School. Teach for Madame, the official name of the organization facilitating the after-school program, was created in response to the VT-ENGAGE initiative, which challenged the university community to complete 300,000 hours of community service before the end of the Spring semester to honor the memory of those lost in the shooting tragedy on campus on April 16, 2007.
Among the 32 victims was Jocelyne Couture-Nowak, a French instructor at Virginia Tech since 2001. Couture-Nowak, affectionately known by her students as “Madame,” was dedicated to teaching French and was an inspiration to everyone who knew her. We, the members of Teach for Madame, are her family, friends, and former students and are dedicated to continuing her unrealized service.
NEW! Teach for Jamie--a similar after-school language program, in memory of Herr Bishop, to teach German to elementary students is now being offered at Beeks Elementary School in Blacksburg. Senior Betsy Potter is the leader of this program: eapotter@vt.edu.
NEW! Teach for Madame has expanded this semester to now be operating in three elementary schools in Blacksburg--Harding, Gilbert Linkous, and Prices Fork. The students meet every week for one hour to deliver an exciting learning experience aimed at inspiring young students to take an enthusiastic approach to learning the French language.
Early Advantage, the publisher of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s MUZZY series, an award-winning foreign language education curriculum, has helped make this program possible through its generous donation of teaching materials. The volunteers of the Teach for Madame organization also thank the family of Jocelyne Couture-Nowak and the Virginia Tech Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures for their continued support.
To learn more about our organization or Jocelyne Couture-Nowak and how you can help, please email the president of Teach for Madame, student John Welch, at jwelch09@vt.edu.
If you wish to provide financial support for Teach for Madame, please send a check made out to the Virginia Tech Foundation with a memo that designates the donation to be for Teach for Madame on the check. Please mail your check to:
Teach for Madame
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
C/O John Welch
331 Major Williams Hall (0225)
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Thank you for your support!
Nous nous souvenons ~ We remember