TEACHER'S CORNER: MEET LUITGARD RAMSEY, WHO TEACHES FRENCH ND SPANISH AT KELLY HIGH

BENTON - Luitgard Ramsey grew up in Germany.

However, it wasn't a direct route to Thomas W. Kelly High School at Benton where she teaches French and Spanish for grades 7 through 12.

She has taught there for the last eight years.

"After high school, I studied in England and France," Ramsey said. "While studying in France, I met my husband."

She is married to B. Gene Ramsey, a professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University.

"As our children were growing up, I continued my education at Southeast and graduated with degrees in French and Spanish," she said.

"Foreign languages and cultures have interested me since the fifth grade when I took my first class in English."

Ramsey didn't decide to become a teacher, however, until she had lived in the United States for several years.

"As our three daughters were growing up, I realized how little knowledge most teenagers have of other cultures and languages," she said, "and how limited their understanding is of the modern world.

"As a foreign language teacher, I am able to introduce the students to different cultures and thus help them to become better acquainted with the world around them.

"This is especially needed in light of the fast-paced economic and political changes in the modern world."

Ramsey feels that getting students to enjoy learning is one of her greatest challenges.

"Students are drawn in so many different directions by their environment.

"Social pressures, outside employment and, occasionally, family difficulties detract from the educational process. There is often little energy left for students to engage in intellectual pursuits.

"It is a constant challenge to find effective methods to encourage students to devote their efforts to courses of study that do not bring instant benefits."

Ramsey says that dealing with teenagers is never dull.

"It is gratifying to see students grasp new concepts of expression and gain a larger perspective of the world," she said.

"It is a pleasure to watch the excitement some of them show when the first letter from their foreign pen pal arrives.

"Also, it's great to see the satisfaction on their faces when they are able to understand some foreign phrases on television or in magazines, or when the foreign food they prepared for their family was a success."

Ramsey believes that global education is a "necessary cornerstone" of modern education.

"Our children will need language skills to successfully cope with the demands of the 21st century," she said.