Rena Mazumdar, known as Madame by her students and those who know her, has been a French teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School for 25 years. This school year will be the last of her career before she enters retirement. After two-and-a-half decades at the institution where she established her teaching career, Mazumdar reflected on her growth and the gratitude she feels for the school. 

She initially found her passion for French language and culture while studying it in high school, she said. However, the pursuit of her interest was somewhat interrupted as she initially studied to become an engineer, following her father’s footsteps. She ultimately decided to stick with French and received  an undergraduate degree in French civilization at University of Illinois Chicago in 1989. 

After graduating, Mazumdar was determined to find a job at a French-speaking airline company. “I walked from counter to counter at the airport, like Swiss Air and Air France, until I got an interview,” she recalled. “I mean, they don’t do it like that anymore, but I was at the right place at the right time.” She eventually landed the job at Air France in 1989, where she worked for six years. 

Eventually she looked for a new home to raise her family. Mazumdar was not looking in the Oak Park area. However, a good deal on a house presented itself, and she has been living in Oak Park ever since. 

She got her teacher certificate and found a job teaching French at Roosevelt Middle School in River Forest. Although she expressed gratitude for the opportunity and the friendships she made, she had not yet found her calling. “That age group was really not for me,” she said. “I feel like at that age, kids are still undergoing a lot of development and are not ready for the difficult concepts of French literature and philosophy.” 

She really found her place at OPRF, where she was able to exercise the purpose of her degree and expand the French program at the school. “When I first started here, the AP program was a very small class with one section with around eight students,” she said. 

Currently, OPRF offers five levels of French, nine including honors, with multiple sections each. Mazumdar teaches the three highest of those levels, including AP, with “two sections of 25, 26 kids, and 15 of those kids [in each section] continu[ing] on.” 

Mazumdar’s ability to connect with her students through her teaching leads many to either continue their French studies, or to use it in their careers. Senior AP French student Jacob Bottorff spoke of his positive experience with her. “She is a good centering force on my education…with Madame Mazumdar, I was really immersing myself in French, with books and discussions,” he said. 

Mazumdar said that in her class, she does not solely prepare her students for the AP test or the end-of-semester finals. She makes sure to engage her students in learning French movements and culture, which students have said they appreciate, since it enables them to connect with the material. One of Mazumdar’s notable students was Steven Piper, who went on to become a photographer for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The two keep in contact via phone and Facebook, she said.

Aside from her students, Mazumdar has made friendships with teachers and other members of the staff, for whom she also expressed gratitude. Elizabeth Nash, AP psychology and philosophy teacher, said that the two have been co-workers for 22 years and share a good friendship outside of the school walls. “You know, there’s a lot to love about Rena,” Nash said. “I would say her sense of humor is witty and very dry. I just find her very funny… her intelligent wit is something I really appreciate.” 

In addition to sharing a friendship, they share a relationship of mutual respect, with Nash expressing her admiration for her friend’s dynamic personality and teaching skills.  “I think her most impactful accomplishment is encouraging a love of not only the French language, but of French culture, history and philosophy,” said Nash. “I think that is her greatest accomplishment in her students over the years, opening that whole world to them.” 

As her career comes to a close, Mazumdar expressed gratitude to OPRF.  Not only did she work here for a quarter century, her three children graduated from the school. Speaking on the subject of leaving brought nostalgic tears to her eyes. She spoke about her pride in the diverse school community and the well-rounded education that the program offers, saying it has been an honor to be part of the OPRF community. 

“This is what draws people to move here, this school,” she said. “They move here from other places to raise their kids here. So, for me to be a part of that was very gratifying.”