teacher instills value of foreign cultures

By Brooke Stevenson
brooke@seymourherald.com
    Seymour foreign language teacher Joyce McFall enjoys teaching students about different cultures.
    McFall is the only teacher at the school who teaches French and Latin and her classes are nearly full.
    “We have Latin in all four high schools in the county,” she said. “I’m glad they value it here in Sevier County.”
     She has been teaching at Seymour for 23 years, but she hasn’t always been a teacher.
    After graduating from Alcoa High School, she attended the University of Tennessee for two years before dropping out when she got married. She and her husband then moved to Atlanta where they started a family.
    Nearly 17 years after she dropped out, she and her family moved back to the area and she went back to UT to finish her undergraduate degree.
    “By then my children were a little bit tired of me trying to teach them all the time,” McFall said. “On vacations they would say, ‘Do we have to learn anything today?’
     “So I decided it was time to start to teach other children.”
    She is certified to teach English, French and Latin and was hired at Seymour High School in 1987.
    “This is the only school I have ever taught at and I love it, and I love its community,” she said.
    She teaches all three levels of French and Latin and is currently teaching one French 1 class and two Latin 1 classes this semester.
    “I am not certain what the future of the third year is going to be because this year’s beginning freshmen are required to take two years of language,” McFall said. “In the past the school has only required one year.”
     In addition to teaching Latin and French, McFall is also the joint sponsor of the high school’s International Club along with fellow foreign language teacher Rayanne Barnett.
     “The International Club is open to anyone with an interest in foreign language and culture,” she said. “They don’t have to be in a foreign language class, they just need an interest.”
      Some activities club members participate in are going to foreign restaurants, attending plays that have foreign flares and participating in parties at school, such as the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.
     “There are probably close to 100 kids in the club right now, even though not all of them attend every event and meeting,” she said.
     McFall said this is the club’s second year and before it was founded three separate clubs, Spanish, French and Latin, were in its place.
    “We decided that it would serve our interests and the students’ interests to join up and we could do more things.”
     This year club members have collected medical supplies for Remote Area Medial and collected toys for Mission of Hope before Christmas, along with the school’s DECA Club.
     In addition to teaching and sponsoring the club, McFall also organizes trips to Europe for the students.
     They traveled to Spain, France and Italy in 2007, France and Italy in 2009 and she is planning a trip for England, Scotland and Ireland for 2011.