— LISTEE'S SPOTLIGHT —

Leveraging more than 40 years of experience, Louise Fay Despres excelled as an instructor of French language at New Canaan High School in Connecticut between 1970 and 2012. Teaching Advanced Placement French language and literature for approximately three decades, she is proud of her students, who have utilized her teachings to pursue successful careers of their own. Alongside her primary vocation, she was a supervisor of curriculum and instruction and chairperson of the department of world languages, having spent her post-retirement years as a part-time French and Spanish teacher. Earlier, she taught at North Haven High School in their foreign language program and taught third through sixth grade at High Plains Elementary School. Ms. Despres was honored with the 1994 New England College Board Advanced Placement Teacher Recognition Award and the 2001 Connecticut Council of Language Teachers Pegasus Pride Award. Inspired to enter academia by her family, many of whom were educators, she resided in France at a young age, where she studied at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French from Connecticut College, a Master of Arts in teaching French from Brown University, and a Master of Arts in French from Middlebury College.