Meet the Board Member Applicants!

UN GRAN MERCI!!

…to all the applicants for the L’Etoile du Nord PTO Board!! Please take a moment to learn about these community volunteers!! The board member vote will be held during the May General Meeting on Thursday, May 16th at 5:30pm on Zoom.  It is important that all parents have their voice heard and their vote cast. Please consider attending! The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86895316863

 

President Applicants:

Fidele Tchoffo:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… I want my children to be multilingual.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…promoting the school within my community and beyond.

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…welcoming everyone doesn’t mater his/her race, religion, sexual orientation, origin, accent, political trend, education background…

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Rebekah LaCasse:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… Our family feels very privileged to be a part of the L’Etoile du Nord community. My background is in teaching at Normandale French Immersion School (kindergarten and first grade), and I have a deep love for the French language. I strongly believe in immersion education and all the cognitive and social benefits that children receive from participating in an immersion program! My husband’s family has a legacy of speaking French, and having our kids in this program is a way for them to connect to their heritage. Our family loves the diversity of this school, as well as all the teachers and staff that make this program special. L’Etoile du Nord truly offers a unique, world-class immersion program and we are very lucky to be a part of it!

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…Working to connect our families, teachers, and staff, and building our community is a main goal of mine in this position. I love listening and learning how I can best serve our children and teachers. I am here to serve all of our students and families, and I love meeting families and building relationships. I want each parent to feel empowered to be able to use their gifts and talents to support our childrens’ education. Each PTO member should be able to contribute what they are able in a way that feels positive for them (whether it’s giving time, financially, or otherwise). Some of the important work I have done over the last few years serving on the PTO includes bringing the intern program back and building it to fit our school’s needs, working with so many dedicated parent volunteers to bring back Kermesse and Carnival des Citrouilles, supporting many teacher appreciation meals and events, helping to organize spirit gear sales, working with many parents to create events for our school community including open gym and BIPOC support group, creating an annual school beautification event, and organizing fundraisers such as the direct donation campaign and the Glow Run. I have also been responsible for leading and facilitating our PTO meetings, and general administrative work that goes along with running the organization. I am honored to be able to do this work and more for the benefit of our students and program. Thank you to the community for allowing me to serve you.

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…This is my fifth year serving on the PTO board. I started off as your secretary, then vice president, and for the past two years I’ve been serving as your president. When I started, the board was not diverse and was definitely not a representation of the broader school community. Some folks did not feel welcome and did not feel empowered to serve or engage with this group. After that first year the pandemic hit and many parents who were on the board graduated or moved on for different reasons. Just a couple of us started building back a group that represents and includes all of us, and we were joined by more and more amazing parents all unified in our love of our kids and school. When you have as many different cultures as we have at L’Etoile, there has to be lots of education and understanding on all sides. It’s been a learning experience and I’ve learned a lot about DEI work, safe spaces, and how to be more inclusive. Everyone has biases, and we have always focused on learning and growing together. I have a growth mindset and I am committed to doing the work that is necessary to move towards being a unified parent and staff group.

We have taken many steps to work towards that reality. I have established a partnership with Amazeworks to bring DEI training to our board, making this a standard practice for all board members. We’ve done the work of having all our materials translated into at least three languages to promote accessibility (and this is ongoing). For every event the PTO holds we make provisions so that all families can have the opportunity to attend and feel comfortable attending. I’ve supported another board member in starting a BIPOC support group to give parents resources and information. I’ve worked with the intern committee to establish a diverse intern pool to best serve our students, and I am very excited that that’s going to be a reality for the next school year. We’ve established funding in our budget this year for NAAPID and outreach initiatives to prioritize equity and inclusion. The work is just getting started. As we move into the future my hope is that we can expand on this together as we work to make the world we want for our children a reality.

 

 

Vice- President Applicants:

Rene Mokom:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… I wanted my kids to get bilingual education and be able to face the world

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…Advocating for the kids being a part of the change that is happening through education.

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…I will contribute to the diversity and inclusion of races and underrepresented perspective.

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Erica Scott:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… I felt like my daughter would thrive in this program.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…By adding a layer of support to systems operations and the community.

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…Through education giving members and myself tools to check biases.

Treasurer Applicant:

Sarah Canfield:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… I fell in love with French language and all the French speaking cultures around the world in high school, which carried me into college (including studying abroad in France and earning a degree in French Language and Literatures). I want to share that joy with my children early on in their lives, knowing it can also contribute to future academic success and higher levels of compassion for our fellow world citizens.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…managing the financial resources of the PTO with integrity and transparency to enable the teachers and school to thrive. I worked in the finance industry for 12 years and have served as the treasurer for 3 non-profit organizations in the last 10 years, so the role of treasurer fits with my specific skill set. If elected I would welcome the opportunity to get to know the teachers, staff and student/parent body of our wonderful school.

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…listening with compassion and taking mindful action. One of our schools’ strengths is our diversity, and we must be intentional to nurture our school community while respecting and celebrating our differences.

 

 

Secretary Applicant:

Anita Faltesek:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… I love teaching and I love French! I have been teaching Kindergarten and Pre-K at LNFI for 13 years. I love our school so much that I send my own children here! I decided to enroll my kids to LNFI because of its dedicated staff, engaged families, and rich diversity. There is no other school like it.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by… I have a unique viewpoint as both a long-time LNFI teacher and now an LNFI parent. I believe this duality will help me better contribute to PTO discussions and decisions as I can both remember our past and strive for our future. I am also an organized and timely person, am skilled technologically, and love to take notes at meetings. I feel like these qualities would make me a good secretary for the board. 

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…Bringing forward my personal experience with and knowledge of neurodiversity. My family is neurodivergent and we are proud of the different ways in which our brains work. My neurodivergence brings with it many positive qualities that can serve the board, including creativity, problem solving, and attention to detail. If elected to the board, I hope to serve as an advocate for LNFI’s neurodivergent student population by helping to make decisions that protect their right to belong and thrive at LNFI.

Intern Committee Chairperson Applicants:

Damien Vadillo:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… Of the immersion in French. I am a native French and it is important for me that my children are exposed to French language and culture, from France itself as well as all as many countries where French is spoken as possible. It is part of their identity and I want them to realize, understand and appreciate that richness. I feel that if the school strive, and the intern presence at the school is a key piece of that, the broader school community will strive

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…I am currently invested in the Intern committee and have enjoyed working with a diverse and motivated team of parents and teachers. The group is pro-active, professional and dedicated and I want to support this effort to the best of my abilities

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…Being a French Immersion program, the school is by definition diverse in language and in ethnic background. It is important that children understand that we are united by many things and what makes our unicity is a richness, not something to shy away from. Through the Intern committee this year, we are continued and started several efforts to bring interns from French speaking countries with different cultural background. This is a complex problem due to the USCIS (US immigration) policies and IRS requirements. It is a slow and complex problem that requires dedication, patience and diligence.
I feel that I am well place to continue these efforts and help develop the pipeline that will eventually lead to a more ethnically and culturally diverse group of interns. I want to emphasize a holistic inclusion approach where the only true common traits between all interns is the French language with the clear objective to have interns from as broad a background as possible. This includes people from African countries as well as Asia for example.

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Marie-Victoria Nelson-Martin:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… I came to LNFI almost six years ago, as an intern from France. Right away, I adored the school and the mix of people coming from all horizons, all gathered to share their cultures and diverse identities, but all sharing the same language. After I got married and settled in Minnesota, it was natural and obvious for me to come back and teach at LNFI.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…I want to contribute to my LNFI community by helping and supporting the intern program. The interns are a great part of what makes our school special. In 2018, I was offered this life changing opportunity – being an intern at LNFI. Now that I am a teacher at LNFI, it feels natural to me to want to want to support the program and offer the same opportunity to young French speaking professionals. 

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…I will contribute to the diversity, equity and inclusivity of the board by listening to the community of parents and teachers. My main goal is to help the diversification of our school so that children and families can feel included and represented. In my work with the Intern Commitee, I have helped with the effort made by the committee to bring in candidates from different cultures and continents. My hope is to keep that work and broaden our pool even more.

 

 

Fundraising Committee Chairperson Applicant:

Dean Stallons:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… Belief that immersion education as a primary school curriculum was best for my children. The diverse backgrounds of the student population is invaluable. And finally, so my kids would have a strong world-view in a community driven school.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by…Assisting with all my efforts to ensure programs, primarily the intern program, are funded to the maximum potential. 

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by…Providing real life experience working in a diverse, high-paced, business environment. Additionally, I grew up very rurally which is unique amongst other parents I have spoken with. 

 

Social Committee Chairperson Applicant:

Loryn Rofick:

 

Communications Chairperson Applicant:

Mālia Caruso:

I came to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion because… LNFI came highly recommended by another educator! My husband and I knew we wanted an immersion program for our children but were not familiar with the school or the French language. We toured with our oldest daughter and were immediately excited about the program; the students enthusiasm for learning, the caring approach by the teachers and staff and the feel of the community.  Both my children started LNFI as 1^st graders! It has been a beautiful experience to see them grow in the LNFI community, I am eternally thankful for being a part of LNFI and the community.

I want to contribute to my L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion community by… Continuing to build and strengthen our sense of community and share PTO communications! I have been with the LNFI PTO since 2020 and have had to make many shifts in roles and methods of communication since I started. Since becoming the Communications Chair I have worked to expand the way we share news and connect; all communications are available in multiple languages to address the many home languages of our community. I also researched and implemented the new app & directory to connect families. I want you to know that I am ALWAYS open to suggestions and improvements on how to share PTO news! I am excited about expanding and strengthening our Board which will allow me to focus on developing and improving communication moving forward!

I will contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusivity of the board by… Promising to always be a good listener, remain open-minded and keep inclusivity at the forefront of our decisions as a team. As an Indigenous person I believe I can bring a unique perspective of intentionality and collaboration to the Board. I will always continue my growth and keep an open perspective to understanding the community needs. I will be the best liaison between you, the school community, and the Board that I can be!