Miss Wentz

I teach French at a high school and at a university. I love teaching French. I love the language and the culture, but French didn’t have a real significance for me until I met a certain lady in the fall of 1974.

My parents had moved the family from the metropolitan area of Baltimore County to the rural farmlands of Carroll County. I was not at all pleased. We were living in the sticks! I could no longer walk to my friends’ houses. I had no freedom to come and go as I pleased. The house my parents purchased was miles from any civilization.

That fall, I began school as a freshman at Westminster High. Since I had taken French I in the eighth grade, I was placed in a French II class. I was the only freshman in the class because in Carroll County foreign language classes were not offered until high school. So, the first day of class, I hesitantly entered the classroom of Miss Rachel Wentz. Little did I know that day that this woman would have a tremendous impact on my life.

Rachel Wentz loved French, the language, the culture, the people. She loved everything about France, and it was evident the moment she opened her mouth. Her classroom was one of the best places in the world! We sang in French, we spoke in French, we read in French. Sometimes we would even discuss politics…in French! It was an amazing place to be.

I continued studying French through my senior year. I was one of three students in French V my last year of high school. That fall, Miss Wentz announced that she was organizing a trip to France for her students. She passed out papers about the trip, and for the rest of the day going to France was the only thing I could think about.

That afternoon, I rushed home to deliver the trip paper to my parents. I begged and pleaded to be able to go to France. My father took the paper and said that he would have to think about it. I prayed and prayed and was about to offer burnt offerings when one evening my parents came into my room and told me that they had decided that the trip to France would be my graduation present! I was going to France! And not only was I going to France, but my chaperone would be none other than my amazing French teacher!

That spring at graduation, I was given the foreign language department award for outstanding achievement in French. The award was presented to me by the department chairperson, Mrs. Reifsnider, who said to me “I never had you as a student, but Miss Wentz said you were wonderful!” And I thought Miss Wentz was pretty wonderful, too!

That summer, I spent ten days in Europe with Miss Wentz. She spoke French with every person she encountered on the street. She encouraged us to use our French, and when the group that I was spending my free afternoon with in Paris got lost, I did use my French! It was an amazing trip, one I knew that I would remember for the rest of my life.

I went on to college and majored in French because I got good grades. My original intent was to go to law school. But things happen and life changes. I think of Miss Wentz almost every day when I’m teaching. I sometimes ask myself what she might have done in certain situations.

Great teachers affect us tremendously. I am grateful for those whose classrooms I was able to share.

This post appeared in my column "The Empty Nest" on June 5, 2011 in the Frederick News Post.