Madame Dara Ellis, LCHS’s newest teacher for French 2 and French 4 Honors, is definitely a great fit for the position. Madame Ellis grew up in Dakar, Senegal, which is in West Africa, where French is the dominant language. From a young age, Madame Ellis has had an interest in Francophone culture. Francophone culture involves all the French speaking cultures in different parts of the world.
Madame Ellis lived in Senegal until she finished high school, then moved to North Carolina where she studied and graduated from college. During that time, she was still exploring what she wanted to do for her career. It was not until her classmates she tutored in French suggested that she become a French teacher. She took these ideas to heart, and she is still teaching French today.
Madame Ellis has been teaching French for eight years in a number of states. She first taught in North Carolina before moving to Fairfax County, Virginia, where she taught at a French immersion school as well as a private school in Virginia. This year, she moved across the country to Los Angeles to be a French teacher at La Cañada. She has taught elementary, middle and high school across her eight years of experience as a French teacher.
Madame Ellis said her favorite part of teaching is helping her students. She loves immersing children in the language, and seeing them smile when they finally understand what she is saying.
Madame Ellis is a huge fan of LCHS. She loves how excited the students are when they come in class everyday ready to learn. She is also very appreciative of how welcoming the staff has been at La Cañada High School
One of her students, Annese Nadaf (10) says, “She is super nice and good at teaching. I love her class already.”
But Madame Ellis does not just thrive while teaching French. In her free time, Madame Ellis likes spending time outdoors with her family and her dog. So far, she has enjoyed exploring Los Angeles and going on hikes with her family. Madame Ellis has also run two fifty mile races, which is not something many people can say they’ve done. It looks like Madame Ellis is an excellent fit for a French teacher here at LCHS.
Be sure to go and say bonjour to Madame Ellis in room 620.
