Metairie Park Country Day School French Teacher, Mary-Beth Ellis Receives Honor from French Government
Metairie, LA (PRWEB) November 06, 2013 -- In recognition of her extraordinary teaching and distinguished contribution to French education and culture, Madame Mary Beth Ellis, Chair of the Metairie Park Country Day School French Department, was presented with the medal of Chevalier in l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, by Monsieur Jean-Claude Brunet, Consul Général de France à La Nouvelle-Orléans, on Tuesday, November 5, at Metairie Park Country Day School's Weinmann Auditorium.
L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques was established by the Emperor Napoleon in 1808 to award excellence in teaching and scholarship at the University of Paris. In 1866, his nephew Emperor Napoleon III expanded the scope of the award by recognizing non-French citizens who made significant contributions to the expansion of French culture in the world.
"This honor is truly the greatest of my life. I am touched that the French government, the Consul Général de France, Monsieur Jean-Claude Brunet, and my colleagues went to so much trouble to make it all happen. Since the award is due to my contributions to French culture and teaching, I also want to express my thanks to all of my present and former students. All teachers know that a teacher is only as good as her students; mine have been remarkable," said Ellis.
Mary Beth Ellis received her Bachelor of Science degree in French from Louisiana State University, where she received a grant from the French government to study French Cinema at the Sorbonne in Paris. She later received her master’s in French from Tulane University in New Orleans and completed postgraduate work in Buddhist studies at the Naropa Institute in Boulder. Ellis has served as Chairman of the International French Teachers Convention for the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), and is the former president of the France Amerique Association. By invitation of the Dali Lama, Ellis taught French to monks and Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, India, in the summer of 2012. Mary Beth has been Chairman of the French Department at Metairie Park Country Day School since joining the faculty in 1969.
Metairie Park Country Day School is a private, independent, non-sectarian, coeducational Pre-K through grade 12 school in Metairie, LA.
Calais Hurst, Metairie Country Day School, http://www.mpcds.com, (504) 849-3113, [email protected]
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