Tamara Smith ’90

Three callings shape one rewarding journey

Like the best educators, Tamara Smith ’90 is invested in her students’ development not just academically, but also as human beings. A French teacher at the American School in London (ASL), an independent K-12 college-preparatory day school, Smith creates learning experiences that meaningfully connect to students’ lives and to the larger world and help them develop their socio-emotional intelligence, communication skills and global citizenship.

For one assignment, she helps students draw ties between their personal passions and the larger world by investigating and then teaching about a Francophone social changemaker. Another involves watching a short film about domestic violence and engaging in reflective conversations with classmates on how the topic might relate to their own peer dynamics. To lift spirits and create awareness of the power of kindness on well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, she asked each student to perform 20 acts of kindness, document them on Instagram while respecting recipients’ privacy and write about the experience.

Outside of her classroom teaching, Smith helps students pursue independent study projects in their areas of interest. She is also a faculty mentor to multiple student clubs, provides guidance to international learners and organizes schoolwide flash mobs. She has served on school groups committed to equity and inclusion and taught figure skating as an extracurricular activity.

“We have a familial atmosphere here and kids who are very excited to learn. The relationships with students go far beyond simply being in a classroom together,” says Smith, who has taught at ASL since 2015. “All of these ideas they’re exposed to give them a rich appreciation for what is going on in the world and prepare them to become courageous global citizens.”

Smith’s affinity for teaching is closely interwoven with one she has for languages. In addition to English and French, she is also fluent in Spanish, Italian and Russian, and knows some German. Languages have figured prominently in her career in diverse ways, including in previous teaching roles in the United States and Russia, as a French curriculum development specialist for Doctors Without Borders, as a volunteer for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and, soon, as a volunteer for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.

After Porter’s, Smith went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in comparative literature at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. Upon graduating, she taught at private schools in Texas and Michigan for four years. When her husband was offered a job in Russia in 2004, they moved there with their two daughters, then ages 3 and 1. Two years later, she joined the first post-Soviet Russian private school in Moscow, where for eight years she led its foreign languages department and designed an English curriculum.

“The

It was the 1976 Winter Olympics in Austria that played a role in sparking Smith’s love of languages at age 4, when she watched Soviet figure skaters Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev perform their gold medal-winning performance. She noticed their team jackets featured letters she didn’t understand, and her mother told her about the Cyrillic alphabet.

“It was the first time I was aware English wasn’t the only language in the world,” she says. “It was an aha! moment for me … and I was fascinated by languages from that point on.”

Smith says that her fascination was nurtured at Miss Porter’s School, where she appreciated being part of a close-knit and diverse community and learning from teachers who encouraged her intellectual exploration and enlivened lessons with relevant personal stories. She says she also enjoyed learning from English Teacher Nancy Henderson and French Teacher Carol Plough about the nuances of translating children’s literature. Smith says her experience at Porter’s helped solidify her plan to be an educator and has shaped her teaching style ever since.

“Our teachers went above and beyond for us. I have a real sense of wanting to pay it forward, to give back for all that teachers did for me when I was a teenager,” she says.

That defining Olympic TV moment of Smith’s childhood also ignited an enduring enthusiasm for the Olympic Games, and particularly its commitment to build a better world through sport and the values of excellence, respect and friendship. Being accepted as a volunteer for the Sochi Winter Olympics was a “dream come true.” In supporting the ice sports athletes of Team France, she says she was inspired by their passion and tenacity and the strong sense of camaraderie among all athletes. Using her language skills to bridge cultural divides at the games was also deeply fulfilling, she says. The satisfaction of that experience has motivated Smith to volunteer at this year’s Summer Olympics in France, where she will be assigned to support the athletes and diplomatic entourage of a nation’s delegation within the Olympic Village.

“The Olympic values inspire people to aim for the best and to come together and connect,” Smith says. “Language is such an integral part of that. As people from different countries interact with each other on and beyond the playing field, language brings everyone together.”