We have so many great teachers at LVA, so we decided to highlight one of our teachers, Ms.Franke, the choir teacher. We decided to interview one of her students. Vanessa Ledesma had Ms.Franke her sophomore year during quarantine. 

We asked Vanessa Ledesma what was the funniest story she had about Ms.Frankie and she said, “Well, last year during quarantine, I had her for Bella Voce because I’m in the choir. I remember it was my birthday. I told her that I was going to go out to eat sushi and to get cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. She kept saying that throughout the year, whenever there was a birthday, she’d be like, are you going to two restaurants to just like Vanessa? So I think she’s just overall a funny person. And she’s always liked dancing, breakdancing in the middle of class.” 

Teachers did so much to positively impact their kids during COVID and it really helped kids get through it. When we asked what were three words she would use to describe Ms.Franke, Vanessa said, “Energetic, kind, and creative.” 

Vanessa Ledesma was also asked,“What’s your least favorite thing about class?” Vanessa said, “it’s probably the amount of work that we need to do during choir because sometimes it can be a little overwhelming with all your other classes.” We see that Ms.Franke is a radiant person who influences her students.

During quarantine, it was hard to create a bond with teachers so we ask, “How has Ms. Franke affected your year’s education?” Vanessa said, “She has been very kind to me, and she’s been very understanding which I really appreciate. Everything has been really helpful throughout time. I have to understand how to manage myself with everything, along with getting myself back in place.” 

Lastly, we asked Vanessa, what’s her favorite memory with Ms. Franke. Vanessa said, “I think my favorite memory is when we are singing and at our concerts. Ms. Franke is very helpful and conducting. She just looks at me sometimes, tells me to smile, and says that everything’s gonna be okay. So it’s very reassuring.” 

We also got the chance to interview Ms. Franke herself. Franke has been teaching at LVA for 15 years. We were able to ask her many questions about her life outside of being a choir teacher.  Many times we forget that teachers are actual humans too, so we wanted to learn more about what she does outside of school. 

I started off by asking Ms. Franke what she does outside of school. She responded by saying, “Watch movies and TV shows, hang out with my family (2 sons and husband), go for walks with my two crazy dogs, play tennis, play the NYT Spelling Bee game and NYT Crossword puzzles.” 

We all know her as being the choir teacher, but we also want to know what other hidden talents Ms. Franke has. We ended up asking her, “What are your hidden talents ?” She answered, “I can curl my tongue three times, Harry Potter. Lord of the Rings knowledge, I know everything about Bravo television shows and characters. I’m very good at OG Dr. Mario.” 

When asked what her students should know about her she replied, “Hmmm… Not really sure. I am pretty open and honest with my students!”.

She also discussed her love of Jazz, soul, gospel music, classical music, and opera, and she was unable to pick a favorite from those. Seeing that she couldn’t pick a favorite music genre, we tried to get her to pick a favorite class. She was too smart to answer, though, saying only, “No way! I value my life and sanity too much to answer that!”  

Ms Franke has created and developed many ideas for vocal jazz and we appreciate her for keeping the momentum going at LVA.