This article is one of a series of posts dedicated to our latest project, Humans of La Tour. Inspired by the successful Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton, Humans of La Tour is comprised of a series of journalistic portraits created by the Journalism students at La Tour. They seek to highlight a few of the many people who make up the La Tour community: those we see every day as our professors and classmates, as well as those whose hard work and dedication keep the school running smoothly on a daily basis.
Each portrait was created by an Anglophone Section student in Ms. Temple’s Journalism Elective as part of their final project for the Spring Semester 2021.
By Valentine BURFIN (2EA)
According to Ms. Fugoni, adjointe for the Seconde level at La Tour, being adjointe de niveau means being able to find the right balance between giving the teenagers the chance to feel their best at school while making them understand that we are not friends.
Ms. Fugoni has been has been assistant head of Seconde for the last two years at La Tour. Before that, she worked in economic medical management, a totally different job. Laughingly, she told me: “It has nothing to do with what I am doing now.” She changed jobs because she wanted a change. What really motivated her to make that change was her desire to work with children, something that she wanted to do since she was young.
Each day, her job consists of taking care of Seconde students, but it involves much more: she organizes all activities, interventions and other special events while making sure that they fit in every class’s agenda. After being sure that every student is present in each class, Ms. Fugoni spends her day interfacing between parents and teachers or teachers and students. For instance, if any of the students have a problem, Ms. Fugoni communicates by email with the student’s parents to set an appointment to resolve the issue. Additionally, she has to read every parent’s request and do her best to respond to all of them. “It is easy for me to be understanding towards the student’s parents because I am myself a mother,” she says. She understands how parents can be stressed about their child’s future, she adds. Finally, Ms. Fugoni also has a very important role towards the students: “We teach them how to behave with their teachers and the staff.” While trying to be kind and understanding towards the teenagers, she needs to keep her distance to make them understand that she has a specific role to play in their lives.
Unfortunately, Ms. Fugoni arrived at La Tour at a difficult time. Indeed, during her first year doing this job, Covid-19 upended everyone’s lives and, in particular, the school rhythm. In France, schools closed from February to mid-May 2020, so she had to do her job away from the students and the rest of the staff, which complicated many things. Additionally, this year was also complicated by Covid-19. With governmental rules and restrictions changing often, Ms. Fugoni had to stay constantly on top of changing the DST, exams and orals schedules. She had to modify every event date so they could finally happen weeks after.
In conclusion, it has been two years of hard work for Ms. Fugoni, but she is still very grateful for her job.
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