WEEDSPORT - One of Weedsport French and Spanish teacher Melissa Brown's favorite quotes comes from Napoleon Bonaparte, who said that the man who knows more than one language has the worth of that of two men.

This is an idea that Brown has tried to instill in all the students she has worked with during her 17-year teaching career.

It is her passion and enthusiasm for her job that helped to earn Brown Wal-Mart's Teacher of the Year Award, which was presented to her during a surprise ceremony Tuesday afternoon during her seventh-period French class.

“My heart is still racing,” Brown said. “I had no idea. I knew that the award existed, but I was not aware this was the time of year they gave it out, but it is a really nice feeling to be nominated and to be nominated by a parent, it is a really nice feeling.”

Anne Mlod, a Weedsport School District parent, wrote a letter nominating Brown for the honor.

In her letter, Mlod mentioned the considerable contributions to the school community and to Mlod's own children, Jana and Adam, both of whom Mlod said are becoming increasingly fluent in French thanks to Brown's teaching.

Sheryl Jones, community involvement coordinator for Wal-Mart and Shannon Jolly, assistant manager, were on hand to present Brown's award, as well as flowers and a $100 gift certificate for Brown to use for her classes, and a check for $1,000, which was presented to high school principal, Brett Fingland, for use in the high school.

Jones said that Wal-Mart's nomination committee received many submissions for consideration for this year's award and after reading Mlod's letter and speaking with other members of the nomination committee, some of whom were students of Brown or had children that were students, Brown seemed like the obvious choice for this year's Teacher of the Year.

“We look for teachers that have really made a difference,” Jones said. “A lot of people will say that their teacher was great or terrific, and we really look for the teachers that have really made a difference and had an impact of their students and are really made a difference in their lives.”

From an early age, Brown knew that she wanted to be a teacher, she said.

Growing up on the Canadian border in Massena, French was a language that Brown heard early on and fell in love with.

“Whenever we'd play house I was always the French teacher,” Brown said. “I would teach my sibling what I knew. From the time I was 8 I knew that teaching was what I wanted to do.”

Brown went on to study French and Spanish all through high school and her years at SUNY New Paltz and Middlebury College, before beginning her teaching career, working at Cato-Meridian, West Genesee and moving to Weedsport three years ago, where she has found a place she feels right at home.

“I wanted my kids to go here,” Brown said. “I liked the academic reputation, but I also liked the small-town feel of this school. It is the kind of place where everyone knows your name.”

This September marks the beginning of Brown's fourth year at Weedsport, and over the past three years she has tried to instill the value of speaking a foreign language to her students.

Among her contributions, Brown has organized trips to Quebec, as well as organizing a French club and hosting other cultural activities, such as dining in French restaurants and having a student-run newspaper, “Quasimodo,” written entirely in French.

“You don't have a lot of exposure to French in central New York,” Brown said. “I wanted to do things to show the kids that it is out there and it is a language that is used every day and that it is a part of life and a culture.”

But for Brown, none of these things seem like work, for her they are all part of the important job of being a teacher.

“I live and breathe this job,” Brown said. “I love what I do and I love when I hear back from students who say that they used what they learned to help somebody and they can take that experience to go farther in their own lives.”