Jane Larson, a world language teacher from the Aspen Middle School, is now a part of the Aspen High School faculty. She’s been working in the Aspen School District now for two years. Larson expressed that she loves the mountains, and hopes to stay in Aspen as long as possible. She grew up in New Jersey, and both of her parents were foreign language teachers. From the beginning, she worked with her mother and helped grade papers. There, she really fell in love with teaching and the “teaching lifestyle”.

“I was planning to leave New Jersey, and I had applied to schools all over the country. When I saw there was a position is Aspen, I took it immediately. I’ve always wanted to live out by the mountains and so that’s how I got the job at the middle school,” Larson began as she explained how she has previously taught for 16 years in New Jersey.

At AHS, she is working as a French teacher and teaching ELL. ELL stands for “English Language Learners”. It’s for kids whose first language isn’t English, and it helps them learn the language along with keep up with their studies. The program was formerly called ESL or English Second Language. Along with ELL, Larson is also teaching IB French.

“I’ve never worked with another French teacher who taught IB, so working with Jane has been really nice. She brings a lot of experience with her,” Eric Lamb, a French teacher at AHS said.

Her old co-workers from Aspen Middle School enjoyed working with Larson, mentioning how easy she was to work alongside.

“It was absolutely fabulous. She was an awesome colleague, and we love working with her and that’s why we’re so happy that she’s still able to stay in the district and work at the high school,” Kamala Marsh, a world language teacher at AMS, said. “Jane is so kind and so friendly and cares a lot about her profession. She works really hard to teach french, and I’m super excited that she’s also teaching ELL this year up at the high school. She’s really taken that on with a lot of enthusiasm and expertise.”

Lamb also chimed in and expressed how great she is.

“Jane is a great colleague and brings so much to the table. She’s really enjoyable to work with,” Lamb said.