Georgia Bulletin

The Newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta

Swiss Interview OLM Teacher On American Dream

Published November 8, 2012

A global audience of French speakers better understands America thanks to a teacher at Our Lady of Mercy High School.

Franck Launay-Fallasse is the theology department chairman and teaches classes on morality and world religions. Born in France, he has taught at the Fayetteville school for more than a decade. He was recently named Teacher of the Year.

Radio Television Suisse, the broadcasting company that handles French programming in Switzerland, is running a web series on the American Dream. And Launay-Fallasse was selected to be one of five correspondents for the program.

In his RTS interview, Launay-Fallasse shared his perspective on what young people are hoping and dreaming about.

“The level of hope among young people is quite high,” said Launay-Fallasse. “Yet it seems that it is more about a dream that happens to be in America rather than about the American ideals and values that this country was founded upon.”

Launay-Fallasse surveyed students and reported that 85 percent are confident that their situation will be better than that of their parents. However, he found many of their goals are centered on material gain—having a nice home and good job that pays well.

“I hope to help them consider the values that make America great and how those values relate to their lives today and in the future. As a teacher at Mercy, I am proud to be doing something demanding that I can also do faithfully and prayerfully,” he said.

His interview and others in the RTS series on the American Dream can be found in French at www.rts.ch.