French Government Honors WHS Teacher

Marie-Laure Hoffmann did not set out to become a French teacher.

A native of France, Hoffmann holds an MBA and worked in business, dividing her time between France and New York, before she got married and settled in the United States. Looking for a career that would work with being a mother, Hoffmann settled on teaching, looking forward to less travel in a new line of work. She has been teaching at Westfield High School for 12 years after nine years at Summit High School.

On Monday night, Hoffmann is being honored by the French government for her teaching career. During a ceremony at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York, she will be presented with the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Hoffmann is being honored for the award for her contributions to the teaching of the French language in the United States. Outside of her career at WHS, she has spent the last decade as the president of the American Association of Teachers of French chapter in New Jersey. In this role, she has been one of the state's leading advocates for the teaching of French, along with promoting French culture and coordinating awards programs.

"I've done workshops with them to supervising the awards to give out to students," Hoffmann said of her work with the association.

Hoffmann's award comes with a long history. Founded in 1808 by Napoleon, the award was designed by the French emperor as a "governmental esteem" for "devotion and accomplishment in the field of education," according to documents supplied by the French Embassy. At the time of the original decree, Napoleon set the award up as an esteem, which was later upgraded in 1955 by the French government to be an order, on par with other awards, including the Legion of Honor.

Hoffmann's was nominated for the award based on her work with the French teachers' association. Initial decisions were made by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York, before the finalists were sent on to Paris. The final award was made by French Education Minister Luc Chatel.

Hoffmann is clearly an advocate for the French language and the continued teaching of French. In a time where many encourage Spanish in classrooms or a move to Japanese or the Chinese languages, she said from a business perspective, French remains one of the best to study at the high school level

"French goes back a long time," Hoffmann said. "There has always been a close tie with the countries the United States has been allies with. French is spoken on all continents and it is the language of diplomacy. The United States' top trade partner is Canada and we do a lot of trade with Quebec. There are a lot of Quebecois and French companies in New Jersey. French has its place of value."

Hoffmann said the WHS French program has remained strong with many students coming through the program and continuing the study of French at the college level, along with traveling in French speaking countries. Hoffmann maintains a close relationship with many of her former students and follows their future French interests.

During the Monday night ceremony, Hoffmann will be honored alongside three other recipients, all teachers. The award has been the talk of the high school, with many teachers and students celebrating the honoring of one of Westfield's educators by the French government.

"We're very proud of her and we're glad her efforts have been recognized," WHS principal Peter Renwick said.

Hoffmann said looking back at her decision to switch from business to teaching, she is glad she made the choice, noting she has enjoyed her entire education career. Looking at the award, she said someone once mentioned it to her, but she did not think it would be something that she'd end up receiving.

"A long time ago, someone said 'you will receive this' and I thought that would be nice," Hoffmann said. "As time went by, I did not think about it. When I heard I was being honored, I was thrilled."