Welcome new foreign language teacher, Mr. Bartley Meinke to the halls of Pleasant Valley High School! Mr. Meinke began his schooling at the University of Northern Iowa and originally started out as a music major. He played in the Des Moines Symphony and declared bassoon performance as his major, with French on the side.

Though never originally wanting to become a language expert, Meinke’s studies took a turn. He ended up receiving his Masters of Art in French and Francophone studies and his Masters of Art in Teaching Foreign Language with emphasis on error correction and grammar. He became a Teacher’s Assistant at UNI for beginning French and then moved onto Mason City High School. He worked with “at risk” students and eventually ended up in Iowa City, at the University of Iowa to teach Intermediate French 1 and 2, as well as a course titled, “French for Travelers”, giving basic direction on how to speak common French.

With this being his first year at Pleasant Valley, Meinke teaches French 1, French 4, AP French, as well as the ESL (English as a Second Language) course for foreign exchange students or non-native English speakers. Meinke says his favorite part about teaching is interacting with students. He enjoys working with high school aged kids and has a rather high patience level.

Outside of teaching, Meinke still enjoys playing the bassoon as well as the clarinet, teaching private music lessons, singing in local groups, and reading both French and English novels. Meinke states, “I hope when I teach, my students get a better idea of their community, their thoughts and ideas, and opinions alongside the rest of the Francophone (French-speaking) world. I want to realize that all the young people around the world are actually very similar, no matter where they live.” He believes the global community is part of his teaching motto and enjoys bringing the French language into everyday contexts of a high schooler’s life.