Her classrooms are empty, her tutoring done, but her life of teaching lives in those she taught, her support of future educators, and her contribution to research.
Late in life Victoria described herself as a woman, a mother, and a teacher. She was all of those and did everything with vitality, sociability, and style. Victoria embraced her womanhood, sharing and encouraging its values with other young women, values to be enjoyed in good times and to give strength in the face of obstructions. She taught that gender was not to get in the way of learning and that learning led to creative thinking, possibilities, and self-development. Her own accumulation of professional experiences included several interruptions of location and focus while partnering with her husband and his career. However, the changes she experienced resulted in sharpening her creativity and, through her teaching, on to the gain of her students.
As a mother Victoria gave her daughters guidance for their own development. Their accomplishments gave her great pleasure. As a teacher she helped her students build or rebuild self-confidence through their learning, an improvement greatly appreciated by their parents. Particular attention was constantly given to changing a common perception that girls would not do as well in mathematics as boys. Results from Victoria’s teaching proved otherwise.
She used the knowledge and skills attained first through her own college studies in the classrooms of communities on both South and North Shores as well as in the many homes and institutions served by her business of thirty years, Educational Support Systems. But it was her great care for her students and her creativity in applying what she had been taught that set her apart and made her students successful. Although during her career she was certified for and taught levels K through 8, it was teaching eighth grade mathematics, pre-algebra and algebra, where her creativity and student focus really flowered. A statement she once made to a school administrator speaks to that focus: “I believe math class should be the most challenging, most exciting, most interesting, most enjoyable time of day. Students build their own self-esteem in mathematics by personal achievement. I set my classes up to provide maximum opportunities for mini-successes enabling students to feel proud of their own successes and to show positive support towards their classroom successes.”
Her teaching style in mathematics was unorthodox with its proven basic structure of advancement sprinkled with improvised musical interludes. Her approach to learning drew upon the energy inherent in eighth grade students, kept the level of active involvement high, and resulted in a soaring of national evaluation test scores for her classes. As thanks, her students gifted her with creative remembrances. One, a full-size image of Elvis Presley surrounded by student signatures, was in turn gifted by her for adornment of a wall in Terry’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Shop in Marblehead. It speaks to the students’ feelings.
Victoria invested in the future of learning by establishing an endowment fund at her alma mater, once Bridgewater Teachers College and now Bridgewater State University. The fund supports scholarships for deserving students finishing their junior year in the College of Education. Her thinking was that this moment of student development might be a good time to give a boost of recognition for their accomplishments.
Forever the teacher, it was Victoria’s wish that the results of her brain illness, Lewy Body Dementia, serve the interests of research as the root cause of her illness has not been found, nor has any cure. Research, however, goes on around the world. Accordingly, she is contributing her brain tissue to that end.
Victoria is survived by her husband of more than fifty-four years, Robert French; her daughters, Amanda (French) Rosen and Jillyan (French) Vitet, their husbands Noah Rosen and Alex Vitet; the grandchildren Nathaniel and Lucas Rosen and Audeline and Aubin Vitet; and her sister, Pamela Roberts, all living in Marblehead.
With gatherings restricted by the presence of the covid-19 virus, a gathering in her memory will be arranged and announced at a later time. Please consider joining Victoria in her support of educating future educators through donations to the Victoria Roberts French ‘63 Scholarship Fund c/o Bridgewater State University, ATTN: University Advancement, 23 Summer street, Bridgewater, MA 02325. The importance of education and educators has never been greater
To share a memory of Victoria or offer a condolence to the family, please visit www.eustisandcornellfuneralhome.com.
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