Bonne retraite madame Chaput!
by Julie Liebman
After 30+ enriching years teaching, madame Elizabeth Chaput has retired from St. Anthony’s.
Her teaching career started in 1988 at Beth Rivkah, and from then, she moved to St. Charles, St. Edmund’s, and finally St. Anthony’s for the past 30 years!
“So much has changed in over three decades, but I always loved the students, the parents, the community, and the different programs that were brought in. When I left the school, it had recently become an IB school, and that was very exciting because it attracted many new families,” explains Elizabeth.
She says over the years, she always felt at home and comfortable at St-Anthony’s thanks to her remarkable colleagues, supportive principals, and the Home and School committees who were always very involved.
Having taught French immersion most of her career, she says that she was always impressed to see how anglophone students picked up the language so quickly.
“They are sponges at that age and I always worked hard to teach the French basics in grammar and vocabulary. In fact, sometimes some parents would tell me that their child had developed a little French accent by the end of the year. They are totally immersed in it as of K5 and even pick up the little expressions that I would use in the class” says Elizabeth.
When asked what her favourite part of working with students has been, madame Chaput says that walking into a classroom filled with happy engaged children who greet you with a big hello every day never gets old.
“Teaching Grade 1 is particularly rewarding because the students are learning how to read, write, and they’re developing a whole new vocabulary. When you see a child flourish and grow throughout the year, especially some of the shyer ones who were once petrified to speak in front of the class but who, by the end, have mastered it, witnessing their progress is astounding. For three decades, they made me so proud!” she says.
