Melanie LaRoche

Mrs. Melanie LaRoche is a new Sixth Grade Language Arts Teacher at Arlington Middle School. She has been teaching for twenty years, most of which was spent in the legacy Shelby County Schools district. “When I was a little girl I never really wanted to be a teacher, but now I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”  Mrs. LaRoche originally wanted to work in physical therapy or medicine. When things didn’t quite go the way she wanted, she began to think about other options. She started off her educational career with a licensure in French, then decided to expand on that with getting an English and ESL license, which enables her to teach a variety of things. A huge part of her positive outlook on day-to-day life is that fact that she has survived breast cancer. ‘It’s an incredible feeling having my energy back again, I may not be able to do certain things I used to, you know I make the most out of everyday.” Surviving breast cancer isn’t the only personal aspect towards her teaching .

In her free time she enjoys planting flowers in her garden. At the Middle school she is getting the opportunity to start a beautification process planting flowers around the school. In her twenty years of teaching one of her proudest moments was helping kindergarteners learn to read. “Seeing them not speaking English at all to by Christmas time really having conversations not just between me, but with other kids turning around and engaging with other students that was amazing!” Arlington Middle is different from her previous teaching experiences. Teaching ESL, French, and English to children below the  state standard was difficult. When she came here though it was almost as if she landed in a utopia. “The kids are just great they are always wanting to learn and genuinely wanting to discuss and engage in conversations with me and other students.” The support from the community has been overwhelming knowing almost everyone and their kids is wonderful. She is excited to be able to watch her friends children grow up it means a lot that she is involved with the children. Overall she is excited to start the new school year, meeting new people, and students.