Since he began his LHS career, Mark Wojnar continues to impact students by expanding their knowledge of the French language and being a positive role model to students.

Wojnar took the place of previously retired teacher Kelly Ercoli in the 2017-18 school year after teaching at Oak Park-River Forest High School.

Having previously taught only freshman and sophomores, LHS was a big step for him. Despite the huge excitement, Wojnar said, “Being the only French teacher and having to take on four levels of classes felt kind of like being in a one-man army.”

However, according to his students he had no problem adjusting to the new environment and classes. Seeing the first group of seniors he taught graduate was a very rewarding experience for him and he looks forward to watching the younger classes do the same. Sophomore Nour Longi said, “Monsieur Wojnar has made learning French really fun and easy. He’s very personable and gets to know his students really well.”

Wojnar’s great attitude and willingness to assist a student with anything has proven him to be essential to a student’s education. If student are struggling with a topic, he will be sure to adjust his class agenda so he can take time to explain things in detail.

Though Wojnar has impacted students, the exemplary students of Lemont High School have also impacted him. Wojnar said, “It’s great to see students say thank you or merci after leaving class because you know they are appreciative of what you do.”

Even though Wojnar is a fairly new teacher, he has high hopes for the future. He wants to get his students involved in more out-of-the-class opportunities like field trips or immersion trips as this was what sparked his interest in French. He feels he can inspire more students to learn the language by giving them what inspired his learning of the language.

When Wojnar is not teaching, he makes sure he can continue excelling in his French by visiting France and practicing the language. As a teacher, he misses being a student so this fall he is planning on pursuing his Masters in French. He also has hopes for taking part in a French intensive abroad program in the summer of 2020.