ABSTRACT
Public high schools need to supply a safe haven for teachers who actually enjoy their jobs. It is indeed harmful to enter the common faculty lounge, caught in a crossfire between the venomous comments regarding students or administration hurled about and the waves of whining and moaning of those once-enthusiastic, burned-out teachers, who are counting the days (or even years!) before they are able to retire. After having worked as a French teacher in a middle/high school for 14 years, I still enjoyed being in the classroom, challenging as it was at times. But I was convinced that down the road, that disgruntled employee who dreaded going to work would be me. It seemed to happen to the best of teachers who had devoted so much of their time and energy to help the kids. They were tired.
