Every ten years, math teacher Mr. Shiner uproots his life and embarks on a new adventure. Ten years ago, he biked across the country to come to Lakeside and teach. Ten years before that, he went to Louisiana to build houses. Recently, with the next adventure anniversary coming up, Mr. Shiner asked himself: What journey awaits him this time? The answer is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Rennes, France, through a study abroad program.
Mr. Shiner will be the first Lakeside teacher to participate in the study abroad program since 2008. At the Rennes American School, he will be the only math teacher of 60 students and one of only two American teachers in the entire faculty. He plans to teach a variety of classes, including flavors of Algebra and Calculus.
Known as the “Gateway to Brittany,” Rennes is rich in history, architecture, and culture. However, , unfortunately for Mr. Shiner, the city is , decidedly not rich in English speakers. Mr. Shiner will therefore be fully immersed in a new language for the next year. This is undoubtedly an ambitious plan, one that has taken extensive preparation but also promises to be the journey of a lifetime. I spoke with Mr. Shiner to learn more about his preparation process, motives for going, and what he hopes to accomplish in his year away.
Many Lakeside students are all too familiar with the infamous IPA. exams that plague the language classes. Whether it be an oral exam where students stumble over pronunciation or writing exams with impossibly tricky comprehension questions, these tests aren’t for the weak. While most teachers remain blissfully unaware of how hard these tests really are, this past semester, Mr. Shiner took his first IPA in Ms. Veronique Brau’s French IV class. This class was his first taste of the language, and it wasn’t easy. As one of his advisees, I witnessed his post-test shock. I still remember him asking us in disbelief if they were always this challenging. While the answer in my mind remains yes, I am positive his hard work in French IV and his independent studies, such as reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in French, will pay off. In our interview, Mr. Shiner expressed his nerves about the foreign language. Because of this, he has been immersing himself as much as possible through French music, podcasts, and literature, taking out multiple hours of his time every day, aiming to “soak up enough and as much of the language as [he] can.” By the end of next year, he hopes his hard work and spending time in Rennes will lead him to be completely fluent in French.
However, the language won’t be the only thing that is new to him. Some might think France’s unfamiliar culture is too intimidating and not worth the risk. Mr. Shiner, on the other hand, believes in opportunity cost. In his life, there has always been a “tension between comfort and what [he] is familiar with and the unknown,” and by making this move, he is “throwing himself heavily into the unknown.” He acknowledged that, yes, everything is harder when you’re somewhere new. But, it’s also easier to dive into new and exciting experiences, and that challenge and love for adventure are some of his core values.
On the other hand, Mr. Shiner’s sister and her three small children live close to Rennes, and he hopes to bond and spend as much time with them as possible when he’s outside the classroom. During the school day, he is excited to have a fresh breath of experience while teaching, which he hopes will lead to great professional development. While the math he will teach is the same as Lakeside, everything else will be vastly different. He’ll have a unique school system, a new culture and background, and an entirely different slate of students from all around the country. With these changes, Mr. Shiner is interested to see how these diverse individuals learn and think, and how he can eventually apply his unique knowledge to his teaching at Lakeside.
One of Mr. Shiner’s largest goals for his time in Europe is to take on experiences to their fullest and soak in as much of the amazing culture as he can. He plans to start his adventure before the school year even begins by going on a spontaneous two-week biking trip around Northwest France, for which he has no concrete plans besides the fact that he will most likely follow the coast. Beyond that, he will use this as an opportunity to see the world, acclimate to the culture, and then, when he deems it time, he will find an airport and travel to Rennes. There, he will begin this exciting new chapter of his life. As one of Mr. Shiner’s advisees and speaking for the greater Lakeside community, we will miss him dearly. But we are thrilled for him and can’t wait to hear about this adventure that has been ten years in the making.