MASSARO: In any language, Theisen seen as a special teacher

By Gary Massaro, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 7, 2009 at 8:53 p.m.

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Photo by George Kochaniec Jr. / The Rocky

Toni Theisen, center, sings a song in French with senior students Tuesday during a French 4 class at Loveland High School. Theisen has been selected by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages as the 2009 Foreign Language Teacher of the Year.

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For Toni Theisen, something was gained in the translation from student to teacher.

It's a given that she was an excellent student at her high school in Norwalk, Ohio.

And now it's a given that she is an excellent teacher. Theisen, 57, is the national Foreign Language Teacher of the Year for 2009, selected in November by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. She was a regional champion and went on to beat out the champs from four other regions.

She had to go through an interview and put together a portfolio on what she has accomplished in and out of the classroom as well as send a video of her teaching a class.

She has written articles about teaching languages. She has spoken at conferences. In the Thompson Valley school system, she has helped put Spanish courses in elementary schools. She teaches the words, as well as the customs and culture.

She has been a goodwill ambassador on teaching foreign languages around the nation. And that's what she'll be doing as part of the national award, attending conferences, promoting teaching foreign languages.

"My whole goal this year is that language should be an integral part of the core curriculum," she said.

Theisen deserves the honor, said Eryn Jones, 17, a senior aide and student.

"She just brings learning a language to a new light," Jones said. "She makes it fun, exciting and energetic, and makes you want to come to class every day."

Theisen grew up in Ohio. She considered becoming a teacher because it was one of the few professions wide open to women at the time.

She was inspired to teach by two high school teachers.

One, Patricia Ahern, taught introductory language and made learning fun.

The other, J. Frank Munns, was a Rhodes Scholar who boosted Theisen's self-esteem by having her administer finals to lower-level students when she was a senior and he was drafted during the Vietnam War.

So she graduated from high school and majored in French and education at Bowling Green University, finishing in 1973. She taught a year in Mansfield, Ohio, before moving to Fort Collins the following year. She has been in Colorado since.

She has seen a lot of changes in her 35 years in northern Colorado.

"When I first started, students would ask, 'Should I take a foreign language or bowling?' " she said.

She has increased the tempo for her advanced students. They correspond with pen pals in other countries.

"They are communicating with kids who can converse in several different languages," Theisen said.

Because of their exposure to students in other countries and information on the Internet, Theisen's students are becoming more aware of global issues, such as the lack of safe drinking water in some countries.

And that's precisely why students need to study other languages, Theisen said.

"English-only cuts you away from the entire world," she said. "We need to send off students prepared to communicate in the world so they can be part of it, and not only be part of it, but to help shape what the world will look like."

Theisen travels a lot, mostly to French-speaking countries. She speaks a little Spanish. She wants to learn Arabic next.

She has enough time built up to retire, but isn't contemplating it.

"Hey. Let's take a look at the economy," she said. "And I'm not making beaucoup bucks, you know."

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