2024 Harding Charter Preparatory High School Teacher of the Year Emma Smreker has been in love with the French language since she was a child.
“I started learning it because I took ballet classes and all the words are in French,” she said.
Smreker decided to fully commit to the French language in middle school and continued to learn it all the way through high school. She even went on a Senior trip to France with her class.
After graduating high school, she decided to study abroad in Amiens, France. She knew her French speaking was okay, but it could always be better. Traveling here allowed her to be immersed in the county’s culture, while also expanding on her speaking skills. This made her feel a great sense of independence.
“It was hard at first,” Smreker said. “This was my first experience realizing that the French we learn at school is not the same as what’s spoken in France.”
From there, she made it her mission to make sure her students learned “textbook” French, and “common” French.
While living in France, she got her first teaching job, teaching English to smaller, elementary level kids. After that she transferred to Harding and has been teaching French here ever since.
In her 11 years working at HCP, Smreker has taught all levels of French, been the sponsor of various clubs, and plans the French Exchange program every other year.
In 2016, she had a full circle moment and traveled to France with her own students. It may not seem like it, but the entirety of the French Exchange is so much work. Even the smallest details need to be planned accordingly, not to mention how big of a struggle it is keeping up with a large group of high schoolers in a foreign country.
“For a lot of people, the France trip is their first time leaving the country or even getting on a plane,” she said. “I love that I get to help my students experience this.”
Smreker started the Queer Straight Alliance during her first year here. She felt it was important to create a safe space for any student who identifies as LGBTQ plus.
“I always thought it was a cool club to see not only students who want to be an ally, but also students who just want to meet others who are a part of the same community as them,” she said. “They can feel a sense of belonging together.”
When she isn’t teaching, Smreker spends a copious amount of time doing ballet. She started when she was very young and was taught by Moscelyne Larkin of the Five Moons. She believed that dancing was an incredible outlet and spent most of her time in the dance studio.
After getting burnt out in middle school, she picked up the hobby again in college and has been dancing ever since.
“People should celebrate their hobbies because it makes us unique and keeps us happy,’ she said.
Now she dances with the Oklahoma City Ballet’s community programs. She recently participated in a four-day dance intensive where she took classes from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. She liked that she got to learn some fun pieces and show off her work to her loved ones.
Smerker’s passion for creativity extends further beyond dance. When she isn’t dancing or teaching, she is diving into the world of used books.
In 2018, she was gifted a book which held a receipt from a cafe in Montreal, Canada. She thought it was cool that she could get a glimpse into this unknown person’s life. From there she created her Instagram account @inusedbooks, which now has over 20k followers.
Her favorite find was a poem written in 1893 that was addressed to a newspaper. She contacted the author’s family and got it published it in the same paper it was originally addressed to!
“I felt like I completed a missing piece of this random guy’s life,” she said. “It was kind of beautiful.”
