Returning to her hometown of St. Ignace after spending the past nine years with her family in Germany, Jennifer Tallaire will be teaching freshman English classes and world history at LaSalle High School this year. After living in Germany for the past nine years, Jennifer Tallaire has returned to her hometown of St. Ignace as a newly hired teacher at LaSalle High School, where she will be teaching freshman English classes and world history this year.

Mrs. Tallaire taught language arts at the high school for one year in 2001 before moving with her family to Germany, where her husband played in a professional hockey league. Their two sons, Chase, 7, and Carter, 11, both attend St. Ignace Area Schools.

She was graduated as Jennifer Sorenson in 1992 from LaSalle High School in St. Ignace.

Always passionate about teaching, Mrs. Tallaire earned her undergraduate degree in English from Lake Superior State University in 1997 and acquired a master's degree in youth development from Michigan State University in 2008, completing courses online while in Germany.

“I'm so grateful for the opportunity to come back and teach,” she said. “St. Ignace is the only place I've pictured myself teaching.”

In her new role, Mrs. Tallaire said she wants her students to understand the subject matter as well as the practical importance of it to their lives. She hopes that her experiences living abroad will help enhance students' learning.

“It's important [for students] to understand how they fit in the world,” she said. “I want them to see how they fit in on a community level, but also in the bigger scope. I want to prepare my students for the next step, to show them why the subject matter is important.”

Apart from work, Mrs. Tallaire said her family enjoys watching and playing hockey. Both of her sons play on the pee wee hockey team, and Mr. Tallaire will be coaching this year.