EFAC has always benefited of a dynamic teaching staff, led by an engaged director full of great ideas.
All teachers have degrees to teach in schools in France. The unique situation of EFAC, nested inside the american school, encourage EFAC teachers to collaborate with Lincoln teachers in the spirit of program harmonization and schedules. This collaboration ongoingly invite teachers to compare their academic approaches and therefore strive for ongoing improvement.
Mélanie Galves – CP & CE1
Melanie GALVES comes from Valence, Drôme. She obtained her teaching certification CRPE (Recruitment Competition of Professor of Schools) and a master’s degree in education in the Academy of Grenoble. The first two years, she has been teaching to different grades but then, her curiosity and her eager to discover new approaches, led her to turn to special needs education. During four years, she has experimented several systems and strived to adapt her methods to her students’ specific needs. She particularly likes to instill self-confidence and to help everyone to achieve his potential.
As some of her students were allophone, she got interested in learning French as a foreign language. Thus, in parallel with her work, she has studied in Grenoble Alpes university where she obtained a master’s degree in FLE.
Melanie is thrilled by joining EFAC’s team.
Jessica Payan – CE2 & CM1
Jessica Payan comes from Rouen, Normandy. After successful professional experiences with children she decides to become a teacher and earns a master’s degree in education. She then teaches in Provence (Academy of Aix-Marseille) in several elementary schools as well as in specialized institutions. She quickly learns to differentiate her pedagogical methods to better meet all students’ specific needs. In the class Jessica loves to instill the pleasure in learning, the taste for effort and perseverance, and strongly encourages critical thinking in order to provide everyone with the adequate tools to become responsible and independent citizens of the world.
Jessica is eager to work in a bilingual environment, and she is excited to join the EFAC team.
Anne-Claude Lepannetier – GS & CM2
Anne-Claude was born in Vendôme (France), a city rich in art and history, located close to the Loire castles. She obtained her teaching certification CRPE (Recruitment Competition of Professor of Schools) at the University Paris Sorbonne after a first Master’s degree in Management Sciences and a second in Humanities and Social Sciences. She has a lot teaching experience, ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade in the Academy of Paris.
What especially stayed with her is the diversity of Parisian schools requiring continuous adaptability, a perpetual search for effective teaching tools, and a successful collaboration between parents and teachers.
Anne-Claude is passionate about French and foreign literature. Among her favorite authors are Emile Zola, Jean-Christophe Rufin, and Jim Fergus. Curious and attracted to foreign travel and languages, she is excited to join the EFAC and Lincoln team. She lives in Chicago with her husband and her two daughters.
Benjamin Grégoire – 6ème, 5ème & 4ème
Originally from Strasbourg in Alsace, Benjamin began his university studies in Paris. After a degree in literature, he explored the worlds of edition, journalism and humanitarian work; it is after this last experience that he decided to dedicate himself to teaching. After graduating with a Master’s degree in Modern Literature (teaching, education and training) from Paris VII Diderot and obtaining the CAPES, he worked for four years at the Academy of Versailles in the Val d’Oise before joining the EFAC. During these years he took advantage of his status as a TZR (titular replacement zone) to experience a variety of social backgrounds and school levels (middle, high school, technical).
Passionate about music and role-playing games, literature and cinema, Benjamin places playfulness and the study of creative processes at the heart of his pedagogy.
André Iliev – 3ème, 2de, 1ère, Terminale & DELF
André Iliev was born in 1972 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He received his master’s degree in French language and literature at the Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages (now Higher Institute of Languages of Tunis) in 1995 and an MA in Teaching of writing at the Institute of Education and Continuing Studies (University of Tunis co-supervised by the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud). His doctoral thesis focuses on the teaching of text and image pragmatic purpose. André Iliev started his career in 1997 as an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Labour and Social Studies (University of Carthage) and the Higher Institute of Documentation (Manouba University) where he taught literature, grammar, language and techniques of expression. He joined the team EFAC in 2007. André Iliev is passionate about drama, radio and journalism. At the EFAC, he runs a film club and a press club.