Colleen Chausse is a new Latin teacher at WA this year teaching Latin I, III Honors, IV Honors, IV & V CP, who the Ghostwriter had the chance of interviewing.

Q: How long have you been teaching?

A: This is my first year full-time teaching, before I was teaching at Boston Latin Academy.

Q: What college did you go to?

A: I went to Tufts University.

Q: Are you from Westford?

A: No I’m originally from Connecticut.

Q: Because this is your first full-time teaching experience, do you like the atmosphere of the school and the students in your classroom?

A: Yeah, I feel like in Westford, there’s a very established culture within the school, and the students have all been helpful and welcoming and nice, which is awesome. So far it’s been a really great place to work in and easy to get used to this environment.

Q: Are you involved in any of the extra-curriculars here at Westford Academy?

A: I’m going to be advising the Latin Club.

Q: What do you enjoy most about teaching?

A: I really like the energy of the students, and it’s never boring. Even though some days are still more challenging than others, the sense that every day is new and that there’s new energy from the students is a really good thing and something I really enjoy and really like about teaching.

Q: What made you take an interest in latin and wanting to teach it?

A: Originally back in seventh grade, that was when my school starting taking languages. Students had a choice between Latin, Spanish, and French.  My grandmother had actually been a latin teacher, so I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. But, I found that I  really enjoyed the culture aspect of ancient Rome. That it was very exciting and glorious, with gladiator fights, and learning just about the artistic aspect of it as well. So the cultural aspect of it really drew me in, but the language and grammar followed that.

Q: So what would you say about the staff and the people in your department?

A:  So far everyone has been welcoming and helpful. You know, making check-ins with me because I am a new teacher and there’s always that adjustment period.  I also think it’s pretty cool to a) have another latin teacher in the building because not every school has that and b) the entire department feels like there’s a community  there.  Which is definitely helpful. 

Q: Is there anything you’re looking foward to this year, anything exciting in the foreign language department or in extra-curriculars?

A:  I think one goal I’m excited for is working for the latin club more and getting to state convention this year, because I have heard they haven’t gone in a while. I went with [the team] last year, and it’s quite a bit of fun.

Q: I know that you mentioned a ‘Westford culture’, what would you say that means?

A: I think just the way, for the most part, people seem supportive of one another. There’s definitely a lot of Westford pride that I’ve seen just in terms of sports teams and people do seem involved  in the extracurricular  activities and clubs. So it seems like there is a sense of community here that you don’t see at every school. I’ve seen a sense of pride and ownership that I think are a part of the community.