![Junior Diya Arun stares out a window. For Arun, the winter season brings out the holiday blues. “ I think [the winter] has a negative effect on my mental health because I feel like the cold weather and people around me are also sadder [and] that affects me,” Arun said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8047-1200x800.jpg)
![French teacher Marieme Toure serves a plate of the Senegalese food she prepared for her AP French Language and Culture class, to senior Faiza Syed. “I never had Senegalese food before,” Syed said. “I thought it was so cool that she was able to bring a part of her culture [and] background to us.”](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0798-1200x906.jpeg)
![The Phoenix varsity volleyball team lines up for the national anthem. “We were more communicative [with each other] during this game, and I feel like we kept our energy up, especially after the first set,” senior Jessica Valdov said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0202-1200x800.jpg)
French teacher Marieme Toure provides authentic experiences to her students that engage them with the French and Francophone culture; she wants them to explore the language beyond the grammar quizzes and reading assignments. After getting restaffed to Independence High School in 2019, she left Rock Ridge but returned this school year.
Toure grew up in Senegal in West Africa; she enjoys incorporating her background and interactive perspective on teaching into her lessons. Cooking Francophone food and celebrating the month of Ramadan are activities Toure has planned for this year because she seeks to foster a greater understanding and appreciation for all cultures in her classroom.
Story continues below advertisement
