Amy Berchem is a French teacher and the co-department chair for the world language department. Berchem, known by most as Mel Mel, teaches French 1, 3, and AP.
“I started teaching over 20 years ago, and I was not married yet. In French, a person who’s not married yet is called Mademoiselle, which is like our word for Miss,” Mel Mel said. “My students at that time said that it is such a long word and asked me to shorten it. They took the beginning and end of Mademoiselle, they pushed it together and made Mel, and then over time, it just became Mel Mel. So even though I’m married now, they still call me Mel Mel.”
Mel Mel has been a teacher for 21 years, and has taught in both Colorado and Indiana. She has loved being a teacher, and has a specific enjoyment for creating lessons that help students learn in different ways.
“I love teaching. I think that I have found the right profession. One specific thing that I love so much is creating new lessons because it really does grow me as a teacher, and I also am learning more about whatever the concept is that I’m teaching,” Mel Mel. “Whether it’s grammar, vocab, culture, or geography, I get to learn it too. I enjoy being able to create lessons that are a different way to bring out the lesson, not just pen and paper, or just a buzz assignment, but activities where the kids can interact more and that are enjoyable.”
Having known French since she was a kid, Mel Mel decided to teach the language.
“I was born and raised in Africa where they speak French. So I already knew French before I went to college to become a French teacher,” Mel Mel said. “I had two thoughts when I went to college. I either wanted to be a teacher or I wanted to be a secretary because I love organization. I love putting things in order and filing and all that kind of stuff. I was able to be a secretary during the summer months when I was in college, and I started to realize that I didn’t like it as much, so I went with teaching.”
Mel Mel tries to keep her classroom positive throughout the day, and does so through by trying to stay in a good mood throughout the day.
“If I have a bad day, I don’t want them to know. If I am feeling like that and they sense it, it can transfer to them, and I don’t want that to happen,” Mel Mel said. “So I try to be as positive and uplifting as possible. Even if I don’t feel that way, I try to exude it. And so hopefully that kind of transfers on to them, maybe just by osmosis of being in the classroom.”
Mel Mel uses this positive environment to help her students learn in the best way possible.
