French teacher Madame Cauley began teaching at PA in 2020, during the chaos of remote and hybrid learning brought on by the pandemic. 

But her teaching career began years earlier.

Since childhood, Madame Cauley said that she only wanted to be a teacher. As a young girl, she would attempt to teach to anything she could, such as her dolls or her grandmother’s animals

“It’s probably in my genes,” said Mme. Cauley. “I have never even considered becoming anything besides being a teacher.”

Born and raised in Slovakia, Mme. Cauley is fluent in Slovak, French and English, and she understands six other languages. She began her teaching career as a Slovak teacher in Slovakia in 1995. She said that she wanted to study Russian as well, but after the political changes in the late-80s, she lost the language.

Teaching French was the next choice. Mme. Cauley took French in high school and had an “extraordinary” French teacher. This teacher, as well as her attachment to the language, inspired her to become a French teacher.

But, as Mme. Cauley knows well, learning a new language can be a difficult endeavor. 

“The first language you are going to learn is going to be the hardest,” said Mme. Cauley. “Everything after that will somehow make more sense.”

Becoming multilingual is important to Mme. Cauley and she said it is beneficial in understanding other cultures. She believes knowing more than one language gives a person the ability to understand cultural differences.

Mme. Cauley said that she loves being a teacher, but as with any job, there are downsides. She said one of the biggest challenges in her job as a teacher is trying to balance her work with her own personal interests. 

However, she said that seeing the growth and interaction from students makes up for it.