Throughout its 71 years, Coral Gables Senior High School has seen many teachers come and go. This year, one of the many newcomers to the Cavalier family is Ms. Yvette LeFebvre, Gables’ newest addition to the English department.

A Miami native, Ms. LeFebvre’s longtime passion for literature led her to Florida Atlantic University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. At the university, she worked as a librarian, additionally obtaining a master’s degree in information science, a requirement for the job.

Although LeFebvre played around with the idea of being a teacher in middle school while part of the Future Educators of America, she was dissuaded after her mother became a teacher and she saw her grading heaps upon heaps of homework every day. Her mother’s experience turned her away from pursuing education.

“She brought work home with her to grade and I was like, what’s the point of graduating school if you’re just gonna have more homework as a job,” Ms. LeFebvre said.

After graduating, Ms. LeFebvre began deliberating between options for a full-time job when she remembered her first degree in English. Feeling the oncoming pressures of adulthood and trying to decide on a full-time profession, she found solace in her lifelong dream: teaching kids.

Three years of being an English teacher later and Ms. LeFebvre does not regret her choice. Both the fact that teaching runs in her family and that she has a strong love for literature has made it clear that becoming a Language Arts teacher was fate for the new hire.

Before coming to Gables, Ms. LeFebvre taught English as a Foreign Language students at Horace Mann Middle School and continued to teach mostly English to speakers of other languages students at Kinloch Park Middle School. This year, she will be teaching 10th grade English and English Honors and 9th-grade pre-International Baccalaureate Inquiry Skills, Research and English looking to go deeper with her students into their thoughts as they analyze literature.

Worried about how COVID-19 may impact her own safety and her student’s safety, Ms. LeFebvre has made sure that all the proper protocols are followed in her classroom.

“(Covid-19) does disrupt the flow you have going on … a classroom is like an ecosystem,” Ms. LeFebvre said.

Despite her concerns for teaching dual-modality, LeFebvre does make frequent use of online resources such as Brainpop, Kahoot, Quizizz and Microsoft Teams in her classroom. This eases the transition from physical to online schooling if need be and eliminates the need for distributing and collecting papers to minimize contact.

As for the students, they all seem to be taking well to their new teacher, following along closely on their laptops.
“Ms. LeFebvre is a great person. She has been very understanding and is always helping me and resolving any doubts. I am very grateful for her,” freshman Maria Freire said.

Despite the stress and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, Ms. LeFebvre is looking forward to teaching as a high school English teacher. LeFebvre believes that no matter what obstacle stands in her students’ way, this will be a productive year as long as everyone works hard to achieve their goals.