Dear Parents and Guardians,
As a new school year begins, I find myself thinking about a word that we don’t hear enough in education: enthusiasm.
Not excitement. Excitement is wonderful, but it comes and goes. Enthusiasm is something deeper. It is what happens when children discover something they genuinely enjoy doing. It is the student who cannot wait to show a teacher what they built. It is the child who keeps practicing a piece of music at home. It is the student who asks one more question to gain a deeper understanding. It is also the child who proudly recites a French poem from memory, who spends extra time perfecting a story in French or English, who finally masters a challenging math concept after several attempts, or who becomes so absorbed in a project that they forget they are working. Enthusiasm appears when children experience the satisfaction of learning, creating, and accomplishing something that matters to them.
This summer, I read The Element by Sir Ken Robinson. In the book, Robinson argues that people are happiest and most successful when they find the intersection between what they are good at and what they love to do. As I looked back on the past school year, I realized how often our students discovered exactly that.
We saw it in our classrooms every day, where simple ideas often grew into ambitious projects fueled by imagination, collaboration, and curiosity. Given the freedom to ask questions, solve problems, and create, children consistently surprised us with what they were capable of accomplishing.
We saw it during our Ma Culture, Ta Culture celebration, when parents and volunteers transformed our school into a journey around the world. With passports in hand, students traveled from table to table discovering different countries, asking questions, collecting stamps, and learning about languages, traditions, and cultures from members of our own international community. Their curiosity and enthusiasm were truly inspiring.
We saw it during our visits to the Museum of Science and Industry, the Florida Aquarium, Heritage Village, the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum, and many other field trips throughout the year. Whether exploring marine life, experimenting with science, discovering local history, or asking thoughtful questions, our students approached each experience with genuine wonder and an eagerness to learn beyond the classroom.
We saw it during Art Week, when our hallways became galleries filled with imagination and creativity. Families and visitors walked through the school admiring the work our students had created with such care, confidence, and pride.
We saw it during our Food Drive benefiting Feeding Tampa Bay. Our students embraced the opportunity to help others with remarkable generosity. They learned that enthusiasm is not only about discovering our own passions, it is also about using our energy and talents to serve our community.
We saw it during Grandparents and Special Friends Day, when multiple generations came together to celebrate learning. Grandparents, special friends, teachers, and volunteers filled our classrooms with smiles, encouragement, and shared experiences. It was a beautiful reminder that education is strongest when an entire community rallies around its children.
We saw it during our Career Day, when parents shared not only what they do for a living, but also the passion and perseverance that led them to their professions.
We saw it during our Guitar concerts, where months of practice culminated in moments of confidence, accomplishment, and pride as students performed for their families.
Most importantly, we saw enthusiasm in our teachers. One of the best examples is during our classroom showcases, when teachers invite parents to step inside and experience a small window into daily life at FASTB. Each time, we are reminded of the joy, curiosity, and genuine enthusiasm shared by both our students and their teachers.
Over the past few years, I have come to appreciate just how important enthusiasm is in teaching. Children quickly recognize adults who genuinely love what they teach. Enthusiasm is contagious. A teacher’s passion for science, music, art, mathematics, nature, or language arts often becomes the spark that ignites a child’s own interest.
At the French American School of Tampa Bay, we want children to work hard, develop strong academic skills, and challenge themselves. But we also want them to enjoy learning. We want them to be curious. We want them to ask questions, take risks, make mistakes, and discover their strengths.
The French curriculum and the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme work remarkably well together in this regard. Both encourage students to think, inquire, explore, and reflect. Both help children become active participants in their own learning rather than passive recipients of information.
As artificial intelligence continues to transform the world around us, knowledge is becoming easier to access than ever before. What remains uniquely human are qualities such as curiosity, creativity, empathy, imagination, and enthusiasm. Helping children develop those qualities may be one of the most important responsibilities schools have today.
As we prepare to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the French American School of Tampa Bay this coming school year, I find myself especially grateful for the remarkable community that has grown around our school since its founding in 2017. Over the past decade, enthusiastic students, dedicated teachers, generous volunteers, and supportive families have built far more than a school. Together, they have created a joyful, caring, bilingual community where children are encouraged to dream, explore, and discover their unique potential. I cannot imagine a better way to begin our next ten years.
As we look ahead to the new school year, I can already feel a wonderful sense of enthusiasm building throughout our community. We are delighted to welcome many new families who have recently made the Tampa Bay area their home, as well as several talented new teachers who will soon discover everything that makes our school and this remarkable region so special. Their fresh perspectives, experiences, and ideas will enrich our community and inspire us all.
A new school year always brings new friendships, new discoveries, new challenges, and new opportunities. I have no doubt that this will be our most exciting year yet as we celebrate ten years of bilingual, international education together.
May this school year be filled with curiosity, kindness, creativity, and above all, enthusiasm, for learning, for growing, and for discovering the unique gifts that each child has to offer.
Welcome to a new school year. We cannot wait to begin this journey with you.
Merci,
Willy LeBihan
Founder and Head of School
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