Staff / Personnel

Assitan Sylla Traore

Director

LFS is pleased to welcome a new Director as of April 2016! Assa is a native French speaker and brings experience in nonprofit management as well as a love of children and early childhood education to our school. Bienvenue Assa! 

I was born and raised in Mali in an extended family. I have always loved children. Growing up my favorite thing to do was to role play teacher/students interaction in the classroom. 

I have a Masters degree in Linguistics / language teaching from Moscow Linguistic University, a Masters in International Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Oregon.

Before joining LFS, I worked for 17 years in Mali in diplomacy and government, first, as the Special Assistant to 8 Ambassadors of Nigeria to Mali and as a Special Assistant in Mali Prime Minister office.

I also worked as the Africa Program Director at Instove, a nonprofit located in Cottage Grove manufacturing big cooking stoves for school feeding programs and hospitals in countries where people still rely on woods for cooking and heating.

I have 4 children all raised bilingual. I love cooking and watching movies in my free time. I am honored to be part of the Little French School community.

Barbara Walraet

Teacher, La Moyenne Section

I am a Native French Speaker, raised in a bilingual home speaking French and Dutch. My upbringing gave me a strong interest in foreign languages. In High School, I chose to apply myself to a literature and language degree, studying German, English, and Russian. I married a German citizen and I now have two wonderful children who attended the French immersion program at South Eugene High School. They are both trilingual. They speak German with their father, English to their friends and pets, and French with me! It is such a wonderful experience to see how much my children did benefit from the exposure of different languages and cultures. The learning of a foreign language is a life-long skill that leads to a better understanding and acceptance of the diversity in our world. I am very excited to teach my students a little bit of that magic and to take them on a wonderful journey…

I have a Master’s degree in Foreign Affairs and Languages and the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in Education. I taught French at Lane Community College in Eugene for 2 years, while working as an Assistant in the Preschool at The Little French School. I then taught 2 years in a French-German Immersion school in Germany. After our stay in Germany, we returned to Eugene and I spent five amazing years at The Little French School as a Preschool Teacher. I later returned to teach the Pre-K, where I have been since 2011. I enjoy every minute I spend with the children in the classroom. Their smiles are priceless, their curiosity and imagination are inspiring, and their love is unconditional.

I am an avid patissière. I have learned that teaching is like a good dessert. First, you learn the basic techniques. The more often you make it, the more fun you have, and the more proficient you get. You start to be creative and you try many new things out until it becomes a daily craving and you realize that you cannot go too long without it. I found the perfect dessert: Teaching! It boosts my energy and elevates my spirit. I can have it every day and it helps me stay happy, healthy, and fulfilled.