For the past two years, Madame Rachel Vorbe has been teaching at Academy and has already made her mark on increasing interest in the French language and culture. 

Her love for teaching began in her childhood, where she would always take on the teacher role, guiding and demonstrating while playing with other children. 

“I don’t think that you can start being a teacher, I think you’re born being a teacher,” says Vorbe. 

Her roots originate in Port-au-Prince Haiti, where she was born and raised. With family in France, she also spent part of her childhood living 30 minutes outside of Paris. Moving frequently between the two countries, during vacation and holidays, allowed her to grow up immersed in multiple cultures before eventually moving to Tampa to help take care of her grandson. 

Her background made her transition to teaching at a Catholic school a natural fit being raised in private religious school herself. 

Vorbe says, “The girls are very friendly and helped a lot with my integration. The merge between the two cultures of them teaching me their culture and me teaching them mine.”

In the classroom, she is committed to knowing each student individually, whether in her study hall or French courses. She admires students who take an intrest in learning the language, saying it reflects “sign of courage and determination.”

Vorbe’s only AP French student Livia Furr (‘26) says she is, “not only an amazing teacher but also a friend who really understands her students.”

Outside of the classroom, Vorbe is also a published author. She has published four books:

“Initiation à la littérature haitienne contemporaine”, “Cet homme, mon père”, “Romanez, l’enfant du pays, and “Le pont à deux temps” where she was awarded the 2022 Decamps prize.

Her works published roughly every two to three years, are realist novels that reflect her deep ties to culture and history. 

Writing has always been a part of her life. “My great grandparents were writers as well as my Uncle was a historian so we have a writing thing in our family,” says Vorbe. 

She has looks up to and has been influenced by authors Such as Marie Vieux Chauvet, a Haitian novelist and a Moroccan author named Amin Maalouf. 

Although she has already enriched the French program at the Academy, Vorbe emphasized that true learning depends on the students dedication. 

It’s the extra mile and effort that the person is willing to put in the language,” she says.