TURNERS FALLS — Megan Bendiksen knows what it means to be a good teacher. She can explain it in at least three languages.
Bendiksen, who has taught both Latin and French at Turners Falls High School since 2012, won the 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award for the Gill-Montague Regional School District. The award is given annually at school districts throughout Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties, from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
“She really embodies what the award is all about,” said Turners Falls High School Principal Joanne Menard. “She’s a fantastic teacher who engages students in creative ways. I wish I had her when I was younger.”
Bendiksen had studied French while growing up, and in college studied both ancient Greek and Latin as a classics major. She came to Massachusetts for the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s master’s program in teaching Latin, which she said is nationally known among language teachers.
“Languages are my passion,” Bendiksen said. “It turned out to be a good thing.”
Once she earned her master’s degree, she learned that Turners Falls High School was interested in someone who would be able to teach both Latin and French.
“I snatched that right up,” she said.
Her Latin class, which at first had relatively low enrollment, became increasingly popular over the years, and she now divides her time evenly between the two languages, she said.
Students at Turners Falls High School take a world language for their four high school years, which Bendiksen said allows her to develop strong teacher-student relationships.
“It’s a real treat to be able to teach the upper level classes. All our hard work pays off, and we get to do something really awesome in the senior year,” she said. “I really am lucky that way.”
In the past year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching has had unique challenges, she said. Language classes can be difficult because students have few opportunities to hear and speak the language while interacting remotely. Bendiksen said she found early on that it is helpful to schedule time to meet individually with students, which allowed for at least some practice in speaking. Recently, the district switched to a hybrid learning model, which has allowed for more time to practice speaking.
“It’s been great for their spelling and writing practice,” she said. “Now we’re getting a lot of speaking practice finally, which is awesome.”
Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-9330-4231.