The West Bend Current

Bon voyage, Madame Fischer!

This spring break, Christi Fischer will embark on her final class trip to France before her retirement. She left with the student group on Tuesday and they will spend next week’s break visiting key sights in France.

Fischer started teaching at the West Bend High Schools in 1990 and now works part-time instructing AP French VI and French V. After 36 years of teaching, this year’s trip is an especially unique one to her for multiple reasons.

“This trip is special because it’s my last one, and it’s also special because we‘re going to the south of France as part of the trip and we haven’t been there for 30 years,” Fischer said. “I’m really excited to see the Mediterranean again.”

After 14 trips to France with students, Madame Fischer has a plethora of fond memories to look back on, including almost getting kicked off of the Eiffel Tower by a guard and the metro closing down due to a workers’ strike, leaving Fischer and the group stranded at midnight. She also recalls eating some of the best food she’s ever had, particularly French bread and cheese.

“There’s so many memories,” Fischer said. “Like staying with families in the French Alps and seeing the kids’ expressions the first time they saw the mountains.”

Each trip came with its own set of mishaps, but Fischer looks back on those stressful times with a smile.

“We went to France during the Gulf War, and everyone was really worried,” Fischer said. “It actually ended up being one the best trips we’ve ever had, even though people were so nervous about travelling during the war.”

As Fischer enters her final French trip, she hopes students who join her will come back to the United States with a new set of experiences and skills that they can carry into their futures as students of the world.

“I hope that students learn how to travel around Europe so that they can come back when they’re adults and do it on their own,” Fischer said. “I also want kids to accept different cultures, try new foods, learn to get along with people even when you’re tired and hungry, and get a sense of independence. Many of these students are going off to college next year and this is a great way for them to see how they’ll do in new and different situations.”

Lillian Tyvela is a senior in Fischer’s AP French VI class and will be going on this year’s France trip in hopes of experiencing the French culture she has studied so much.

“Madame Fischer is a very supportive teacher not only in class but outside of class as well,” Tyvela said. “Her impact and presence on these trips will be very missed in the future.”

After more than three decades of teaching and 14 trips, these experiences don’t seem to get old for Madame Fischer.

“Even though I’ve seen everything that we see on these trips already, they’re always new for me because I see them through the students’ eyes,” Fischer said. “I will miss that sense of wonder and awe that students have on these trips.”

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Top image: Christi Fischer on the 2023 WBHS France trip. Photo courtesy of Fischer.