Next year, Milton High School will offer in-person French classes for the first time in five years. It will be taught by English Teacher Mr. Wesley Cromley.
According to Mr. Cromley, he graduated from Mansfield University with French as his minor, but he also studied French when he attended Volgograd University in Russia. At Volgograd, he met his wife, who is Belgian and a native French speaker, and she connected him further with the French language, he added.
Mr. Cromley said he first wanted to learn French to better understand his wife’s first language, along with her French heritage and culture.
“Milton needs to have more language options because the world is a lot bigger than central PA,” explained Mr. Cromley. He added that since there is not a French teacher physically in the building, students have not had many opportunities for language programs.
During the 2021-2022 school year, Mr. Cromley’s family hosted French Exchange Student Elise Degols, who shared her language and culture with the Milton community, he said.
According to Mr. Cromley there is an online French class available to Milton students, but “if there’s one to be taught, I would like to teach it.”
Mr. Cromley said, even if he cannot teach an in-person French class, that he will continue to run the French Club as an option for students who want to learn a bit of French firsthand.
According to Mr. Cromley in French Club, students learn the language and culture, have scheduled Duolingo lessons, learned how to travel cheaply and are rewarded withl8i macrons.
According to Co-Principal Mr. Andrew Rantz, to offer an in-person French class, there must be room in the master schedule for it and a teacher certified to teach the language, along with at least 10 interested students. “As of right now, we have 24 total students signed up to take French 1,” said Mr. Rantz.
This year there were only about four or five students that signed up and finished the schools online French class, said Mr. Rantz.
Co-Principal Mr. Michael Bergey said that an in-person class is a better option than the online one.
Mr. Rantz added that since Milton will be switching to an eight-period schedule, next year there will be an in-person French class taught by Mr. Cromley.
