Princeton High teacher takes part in Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.
By: Rachel Silverman
Some people call her Frau. Others know her as Madame.
You could also refer to her as Mulier, Signora or Mevrouw.
For Laurence Thebault, a French and German teacher at Princeton High School who is fluent in seven languages, any of these titles would be appropriate.
"I’m from France, I went to school in Paris at the University Sorbonne," Ms. Thebault explained in an interview last week.
"I was born in Senegal, so I guess I’m African-American, as well," she joked.
And starting this summer, Ms. Thebault will put her language skills to the test as she heads off for a year-long trip to Germany as part of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program.
"It’s an exchange program," the Princeton resident explained. "A teacher from Germany is going to come here, and me in Germany, I will do French and English.
"I’m going to live in Netphen, which has a population of 25,000. It certainly will be a different atmosphere. It will be an adventure," she gushed excitedly.
Despite her enthusiasm, Ms. Thebault has some apprehension about jetting off to Europe for an extended sabbatical.
"Germany, from when I learned German in the ’80s, has changed," she said. "It was pre-unification. It was the Deustchmark, and Eastern Germany and Western Germany. It’s been a big hiatus for me. I haven’t been in almost 20 years."
Before Ms. Thebault can settle into the German lifestyle, however, the world-languages connoisseur will stop over in Vienna, Austria, where she’ll participate in a four-week-long National Endowment for the Humanities program.
"We will study Mozart in Vienna," Ms. Thebault said, referring to the specialized humanities program to which she recently was accepted.
"It’s an interdisciplinary institute for art, music and history. It’s very hands on. We’ll go into the city where Mozart lived and design a unit teaching Mozart to classes," she said.
Ms. Thebault, in fact, is no stranger to advanced study, as she focused on romance languages at City University of New York, as well as French and German medieval literature in a doctorate program at Princeton University.
Despite her zest for Germanic studies, Ms. Thebault has not found her enthusiasm matched by the Princeton community.
"There’s not a big culture for German in Princeton," she said. "I’m the only German teacher (at PHS). We’re like a little family. There’s a lot of competition between languages," she added, citing the difficulty in attracting potential students.
"I really want a program to be established," she continued, explaining why she decided to participate in the Fulbright program. "Ultimately, my goal is to have some sort of exchange with a high school in Germany. I want to create links."
For now, however, the combination language teacher/jet setter is attempting to wear two hats as she works to blend grammar lessons and foreign-film screenings for her students with personal trips to the travel agent and luggage store.
"The AP test is on May 2, so that’s the big goal. But I’m also reading about Mozart," Ms. Thebault added eagerly.

