Rebecca Marie Cusmano, Class of 2007
I am a teacher of French and Italian and this year I have assumed the role of Curriculum Leader of Languages at Avila College, Mount Waverley. Ever since I began as a graduate language teacher in 2014, I always wanted to take on this role and am grateful to have the opportunity to fulfil this dream this year. I have become quite experienced in using communicative methods in language teaching and have successfully introduced a gesture-based method, AIM (Accelerative Integrated Learning), at two schools.
Do you have any future plans?
I am keen to continue in my current role of Curriculum Leader – Languages which allows me to oversee Languages curriculum and development across the College. Coaching/mentoring is also a developing area of interest that is being honed through a Leadership course I am currently undertaking alongside my teaching. I’ve always been interested in all aspects of Applied Linguistics, in particular Translation and Interpreting and Speech Pathology, which are areas I may look into in the future.
What are you memories of Kilvington?
It was during my time at Kilvington that my passion for Languages was fostered. I began studying Japanese in Year 5 and French in Year 7. I was fortunate to also travel to Japan on the school’s study tour at the end of Year 10. My family and I also hosted Japanese students from Hiroshima when I was in years 9, 10 and 11. This wonderful experience opened my eyes to another culture quite different from my own and allowed me to make international friends. I am most grateful to my Japanese teacher, Ms Ishihara, who was an exceptional role model throughout my years at Kilvington. I have such fond memories of her as being a caring and loving teacher who always wanted to inspire a passion for language learning in her students. Under her gentle mentoring and guidance, I fell in love with learning Japanese during my early years of primary school at Kilvington. This passion carried throughout my secondary schooling and also at university where I completed a major in Japanese Studies.