Katherine Gatch Law

Katherine Law taught high school French, including AP French Literature and 1818, an Advanced College Credit Program run by Saint Louis University. Her LSU phonetics course was fundamental in her teaching as she helped her students develop a good accent. She traveled extensively in France in the seventies with a Eurail card, travelers checks, and an expanding “black book” of addresses. Katherine returned with culture, vocabulary and idioms to add to the curriculum. She took advantage of the boom in technology and retired from teaching Level 1 Spanish in a middle school with smartboards in every classroom and use of technology an important part of the annual teacher evaluation. She engaged her students in the Leader in Me program, and a group of her students were awarded a spot to participate in the Leader in Me Symposium in St. Louis in 2015.

 

CODIFIL, Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, was founded in 1968 and attracted skillful French professors to LSU where Katherine won the Phi Sigma Iota award for Outstanding Graduating Senior in French. She got an MA in French Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, an MAT from Washington University in St. Louis and Maryville College. She has a Chancellor’s Computer Certificate from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Katherine attended language institutes in Cuernavaca, Mexico to add Spanish to her French Teaching Certificate.

 

Katherine traveled with her husband, Hugh, to Taiwan, Spain, Malaysia, Australia, France, Vietnam, Singapore and China. They continued the tradition of the “black book” of addresses and always met up with friends, which allowed for a deeper appreciation of citizens and their daily lives.

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The Laws love Tucson and the Sonoran Desert. They enjoy field trips with the Tucson Audubon Society and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and music with the Arizona Opera, the Tucson Symphony and the Tucson Jazz Festival. With a three-year-old grandson in San Francisco, they head West, adding the Giants to their fanship roster and getting to know San Francisco.