Smoke Signals illustrator Derek Scott has created a new goal for himself. This school year, he wants to take on the challenge of getting to know some of our teachers so that he can inform more people on the outstanding teachers we have throughout the building.

Mrs. Kohler is the French teacher here at GRC. In order to get a reading on how she thinks, I asked her what made her want to be a teacher. But it’s not the fact that she wanted to be a teacher since the start that makes her answer interesting; it’s what stood in her way – herself. Kohler’s fear of being unoriginal made her hesitant to follow her dream. But eventually she got over her fear and made her dream come true. However, Kohler is the furthest thing from unoriginal at GRC. She has opened programs and taught a subject that no one else here teaches. Her ‘ultimate goal’ is just to keep getting better at teaching. She’s willing to change the way she teaches in order to give her students the best education she’s capable of serving. She wishes to bring more and more students to France so they can learn more culture and open their eyes to more opportunities. This is the same thing she felt when she first went to France, and that’s why she wants to teach – so everyone can feel what she felt. Since college Mrs. Kohler has been to France six times, her first time lasting a whole school year. This shows that she’s not just teaching French for a paycheck. She has a passion for France that not even the French could obtain. If you want to know how to be the best student in her class just know two simple things: Answer questions even if you think you’re wrong, and take risks.