Bruce Pollard is a new teacher who will be teaching French classes at BFA.

The BFA Mercury interviewed Bruce Pollard to get more information about him as a teacher and as a person.

Pollard is originally from England and lived there until the end of middle school ― but his father is originally from Vermont.

Pollard has chosen to come to BFA due to the good reputation the school has and how close it is to Canada and Montreal.

“BFA has a really good reputation and it seems like a really good program,” Pollard said.

Besides the love for Canada and the reputation, he really enjoys the school spirit the students have for the school.

“I went to a soccer game and I’ve never heard people singing along to the National Anthem in a high school setting,” Pollard said. He was amazed by the various things students did to celebrate BFA.

He has a undeniable love for the French language and definitely enjoys being so close to the French-Canadian Border of Quebec. “I really like the fact that it’s (BFA) so close to Canada,” Pollard said.

Aside from the love of the language, Pollard grew up learning the language from traveling to France and various places so often.

Education wise, he went to Grinnell Liberal Art College located in Iowa and majored in French and history. French and history are Pollard’s favorite subject to teach and learn about. With his new classes at BFA, he wants to incorporate history into his French lessons because of his second love for history.

Beyond school hours, Pollard explained that he has many hobbies. These hobbies include cooking, traveling, music, movies and building/repairing things.

Along with his enjoyment for music, he said his biggest influences in his life, aside from his high school teachers, are rock and roll musicians. He explained that his high school teachers also had a huge impact on him and his career with teaching French.

These many different teachers and these many different teaching styles he experienced in high school had a huge significance in his life and his career.

One of his favored things about teaching is teaching students French and having them be comfortable with speaking and learning it.

“I like it when kids feel comfortable with talking about themselves and communicating in French,” Pollard said.

He also explained that he likes seeing the differences in the students learning, from one point to another.

“I like working with students and seeing progress,” Pollard said.