Faculty Shout Outs
We asked you to give a shout out to an SYA teacher who made an impact on your life, or share a fond memory of your SYA experience. You shouted! Here is a selection of some things you had to say.
"Shout-out to Madame Jacqueline LeBreton, who taught me AP French. I’ll never forget how she balanced high academic expectations and incredible generosity."
— Natalie Curran FR'15
"To me, the mark of excellence in education is the passion you instill in your students. By that standard, I haven't had a finer educator than JP Lemée. Students that passed through his classroom cultivated a lifelong love of art, whether it was during a tour of the Musée D'Orsay or in a detailed bus ride narration of the passing countryside."
— John Ambler FR'10
"Thanks to Mr. Scanlon for being not just caring, but inspiring in a way that is nearly indescribable: with impeccable comedic timing, with boundless knowledge of the human condition and its consequential cultures, with trust insurmountable, he is the reason Italy ended up being what it was—eye opening."
— Dylan Santa IT'19
"Angel Vilalta’s incredible enthusiasm for art and art history made looking at endless cathedrals fun for all. Señor vilalta greeted us to class with a huge smile every day and made class feel like an adventure. I will never forget the special twinkle in his eye and the dance in his step as he walked us through Barcelona, pointing out all of the amazing architecture and art surrounding us.
Ines Trias brought the Spanish language alive for me. I still find myself often imitating her low voice and Spanish accent whenever I speak the language. Ines made even tricky advanced grammar interesting and fun and made us all feel like we were the most amazing and talented students in the world.
Mr. Valhouli really understood our experience as students in Spain because was living the same adventure. He struggled to learn the language right alongside his students and he made the same cultural blunders as we did. He showed us how to laugh at ourselves and also how to reflect on our experiences abroad in new and deeper ways."
— Courtney Monnich ES'90 ES'20P
"Mr. Scanlon was an English teacher in Italy when I was there and he changed they way I looked at education. He would always tell me to trust my instincts. While seemingly simple, that statement changed the way I looked at education and my life. I'm working on a PhD now — an adventure I don't think I'd have the confidence for if I hadn't of first learned to trust my instincts.Thank you, Mr. Scanlon!"
— Charlotte Waters IT'04
"Professor Jordi Nadal: historian, demographer, extraordinary teacher, Catalán above all else. I have carried some of his teachings in both format and context all through my life. I remember a tertulia at his apartment with students and other professors all giving opinions on Franco, the Spanish Civil War, the US Military-Industrial complex, the Black Legend of AmerIndian extermination, and economic theories ... He seemed to find value in everything and every person he undertook."Palante don Jordi, de un muy agradecido estudiante, 52 años después."
— Jorge Gaskins ES'67
"Shout out to Benjamin Sabatier who introduced me to my love of European architecture, while also guiding me tremendously in my year abroad. I’ll forever be grateful for his great class."
— Corrie Delva FR'19
"Shout out to Ed Sainati: language teacher extraordinaire, master musician and great human being who taught me Spanish 1 at Phillips Exeter Academy and convinced me I could become fluent; then became the resident director in Barcelona (sadly for me, AFTER I had already spent my wonderful year there), and shared his inestimable gifts with so many others! One of the two best teachers ever in my long academic career at Exeter and Yale."
—Rob Stucky ES'67