PROFILES IN EDUCATION

Candace Braun

Name: Martha Toma
School: Princeton Charter School
Years Taught: 15 years
Subject/Grade Taught: French, grades 1 through 5
Education: Bachelor's in French language and literature, New York University; three years at Sorbonne University, Paris; master's in French language and literature from Southern Illinois University
Most Memorable Book: A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, by Marcel Proust
Person You Admire: "My very close, very dear friend in Paris, Evonne. Although much older than me, she was a very important figure in my life: a little bit of a mother, a little bit of a sister, and very much a friend and mentor. She was a teacher herself...and had a lot of confidence in me and my potential as a teacher. She was very inspiring."

No matter where she has travelled, from Romania to Paris to New Jersey, Martha Toma has had a passion for the French language. And what she has seen of the world has helped her pass on her love of French to each child she teaches at Princeton Charter School.

"I find it fascinating to teach younger children...they are very curious and uninhibited," said Ms. Toma, who was one of the first teachers at the Charter School when it opened in September 1997. The school moved to its location on Ewing Street soon after opening at the Nassau Presbyterian Church. This summer construction was completed on the school's new classroom building, which now houses children in kindergarten through fourth grade.

All Princeton children are welcome at the Charter School, where children are selected through a lottery.

"The only thing that matters is luck," said Ms. Toma, adding that every year the school has many more applicants than it can accommodate.

A Worldly Background

Born in Bucharest, Romania, the French teacher came to the States with her family when she was 15. After getting her bachelor's degree in French language and literature at New York University, she went to France for three years, studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. Returning to earn her master's at Southern Illinois University, she moved to New Jersey and became a high school French teacher in Elizabeth, as well as a professor of French at Raritan Valley Community College.

After starting a family, she opened up her own French school in Metuchen for young children.

"When my youngest [daughter] was five I wanted her to learn French, so I started a school for her and her friends," she said, adding that although she closed the doors after three years, she still had some pupils come to her house for tutoring.

A Princeton resident, Ms. Toma has two daughters, 20 and 15, both of whom have attended the Princeton Regional Schools. Her younger daughter attended the Charter School from fourth through eighth grade, and had her mother as a teacher.

"It was very hard for her," said Ms. Toma. "I was harder on her...because I didn't want it to look as though I was favoring her over the other students."

Imagination is Key

Ms. Toma was inspired to become a teacher as a child of 11, when her older brother brought a young professor of English home to dinner.

"He was a true inspiration to me; I wanted to be just like him," she said, adding that while she had originally intended on getting her doctorate, life as a mother and wife took her off her original course.

Ms. Toma immerses her students in the French language, speaking only in French to them, even on the first day of school.

"They have to experience the language," she said, pointing out that through role playing, skits, and songs, she is able to reach the children in ways that they can understand and at the same time enjoy. She finds that "children are only motivated through imagination, play and fantasy."

Ms. Toma heads up the French Club, which meets each Friday throughout the school year. At the end of the year, her students put on several French plays for the other students and parents.

She has also taken students to see a French play at McCarter Theatre, and to Bon Appetit for lunch, as well as showing authentic French movies and matching each student with a French pen pal.

Best French Practices

Princeton Charter School has benefitted from Ms. Toma's labors, having been awarded the Best French Practices Award for New Jersey, as well as receiving the best scores in the state in a national French contest. Each year the students who place highest receive awards in a ceremony at Rutgers University.

"They look forward to the contest every year," she said.

A compulsive traveller, Ms. Toma enjoys vacationing almost every summer in various foreign countries, including France, Italy, Germany, Austria, England, Belgium, and Hungary.

"I like to discover new places and understand other people's culture and backgrounds," she said, adding that she also enjoys travelling across the states.

Being foreign-born, Ms. Toma knows first hand the differences between schools in the states and schools in other countries. What is needed here, she said, is a democratization of education.

"A good education should be a right, not a privilege," she said, adding that every student should be entitled to the same education, whether they live in Trenton or Princeton.

To nominate a teacher for the Profiles in Education series, contact Candace Braun.