For the next few months, French substitute Annalina Vaira will cover the French courses for french teacher Stephanie Myers. Myers is out on maternity leave.

Vaira grew up in Manfredonia, Italy and started her teaching career in 2014. She worked in Italy and France and is currently teaching French at the York campus of Penn State University while temporarily teaching here at Susky.

“This is my first experience in the United States of America and in high school,” said Vaira. “I think this is a great experience for me because I’m learning a lot [here].”

Vaira is also an official translator for the York Court House and for the Pennsylvania Court House. Overall, she enjoys being a teacher because she loves helping students who are eager to learn.

“My favorite thing about being a teacher is that I can teach somebody what I have learned in my life as a student. If you are a good student, if you love what you study in high school and college, it’s amazing,” said Vaira.

While being a professor at Penn State, working as an official translator and now being a substitute for Susky, Vaira has found work easily while staying in a local area.

Students have appreciated Vaira coming in to take Myers’ place.

Junior Ruth Klopcic is a first-year student in French who is involved in French Club and so far likes the new substitute.

“She’s a great teacher. She’s strict, but the way she teaches makes it really easy to understand,” said Klopcic. “I think it’s cool that she’s from a different country. She hasn’t tried a lot of our foods. When we bring in a food, she wants to try it, and it’s fun to watch her reaction.”

Junior Chiamaka Amadi has taken five years of French, plans to take AP French next year, and believes strict teachers are good for students eager to learn.

“She’s a good teacher. She’s kind of strict, but that makes you more involved and makes you want to do better. It’s always good to have a strict teacher that pushes you to do better,” said Amadi.

Out of most of the subjects discussed in French class, students like Amadi prefer learning about the real-world topics they discuss in the class and hope they learn more about it from Vaira.

“[In French], we go over real-world issues that we don’t get to see in other many classes. It gives you a perspective of what goes on in the world,” said Amadi.

Teaching at Susky is a new experience for Vaira, and more is to come for the new substitute as these next few months go by.