One Well-Traveled Avon Family

AHS family to head abroad this summer, deepening love for language and learning; credits Avon Schools

Dr. Catherine Lewis and her daughters, Claire and Sophia, have a passion for world travel and foreign languages. They're combining both passions this summer through three distinctly exciting and prestigious honors. Dr. Lewis, Avon High School Instructional Coach, is quick to credit several colleagues for her daughters' impressive academic achievements and love for the study of foreign languages.

Sophia is a double French/Russian major at Indiana University. She fell in love with French language due to the time she spent in Jillian Eilert's classroom at Avon High School. This summer, she will be studying Russian in Kazakhstan through the Gilman Scholars Program.

Claire has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Award. Claire is a graduate student at DePaul University in Chicago, pursuing a master's degree in Public Administration. Her passion for Spanish began in Holly Barker's 8th grade Spanish Class at Avon Middle School South and flourished in Jared Emmons' class at Avon High School. Claire is grateful that both educators continue to support her through her educational and professional journey. She will spend the 2022-23 school year in Madrid, Spain.

Catherine recently won a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship, an honor that will enable her to spend the summer in France. Lewis says,

In March 2020, I was feeling down and even frightened by COVID-19. I needed to pick myself up somehow to show my college-age daughters, who both came home at that time, that we could get through what we thought was going to be a short quarantine by continuing to learn and do our best every day for a better future. So I committed myself to learning French every day. I kept at it and dreamed of going to France when the pandemic ended. Now I will be able to fulfill that dream!

Excited by immersive experiences in foreign cultures and the opportunity to continue to master the languages they love, Dr. Lewis, Claire, and Sophia are also scheduling family time while in Europe. Sophia will spend a few days with her mother in Paris before she travels to Kazakhstan. Then at the end of the summer, Claire will enjoy time with her mom in Paris before heading to Madrid.

"All this because of Avon Schools," says Dr. Lewis.

Bon voyage! счастливый путь! Buen Viaje!