Bonjour!  Je m’appelle Mme Evans.  (Hello.  My name is Mrs. Evans.)  I have been at Stapley since the doors opened in 1993.  Although my original degree is in French, I have taught a variety of English classes over the years as well as French. My students have won numerous awards in the District Writing Contest and the District French Competition.  I've been recognized as "Teacher of the Year" at Stapley, Master Teacher by MPS, and "Who's Who" several times by students.  I have served as the English Department chair, Awards Program Committee chair, and am now the World Languages Department chair.  Over the years, I've worn a variety of hats for Mesa Public Schools, including Career Ladder Student Achievement Specialist, Career Ladder Mentor, teacher of teachers for the Quality Assessment class, and curriculum writer for both the Mesa Distance Learning Program and the Community Education Department.  In the summers I coordinate the new Stapley Extended Learning Session summer school program.  

     Currently, I am Stapley’s Instructional Specialist and the teacher for two French classes, Introduction to French and French II.  I adore everything about the French language and culture and seek to impart that to my students.  I even took a dozen students to France for a month in 2003 for home stays and a tour of Paris.  In 2006 I led a group of 33 adults and students for a two week tour of Paris and northern France, London, and Dublin.  The 2007 trip was a glorious week in Barcelona followed by a fabulous week in Paris.  The next trip in July 2008 will be a total blockbuster -- Paris, Florence, Rome, and Athens followed by a 3-day Greek isles cruise!   Want to join us?  I'm planned out and ready to go and would love to have you come along!

     This school year brings a special change for me as I move back into the English Department to teach one class of 7th grade.  I'm very excited to rejoin the world of English and to do my utmost to motivate my students to become better readers and writers.  One more amazing change finds me co-coaching Stapley's NAL (National Academic League) team, an intimidating job with a team whose recent record is three undefeated seasons.  However, seasoned veteran coach Cheryl Stone returns to take us all the way to nationals again, I hope!

     On a more personal note, I'm the grandmother of two indescribably adorable grandchildren; I devour books in the summertime (My recent interesting summer reads include Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova); and I love anything to do with the outdoors!