KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — It is noontime, fourth period, Room 112, and teacher Dorothy Goff Goulet is speaking to her charges in French, spurring them on with a few elementary questions.

Goulet then slides back into English to tell the seventh-grade class seated before her that she won’t collect a homework assignment just yet.

"Looks like everyone wants to clap," Goulet says as the class reacts to the news.

The kids didn’t applaud, though they easily could have, seeing that Goulet was named this week the 2009 Teacher of the Year by the Department of Defense Education Activity. She now will compete for National Teacher of the Year award as the DODEA nominee.

"It’s really overwhelming to process," Goulet said Thursday before her Exploratory French class arrived. "It’s such a big award. It’s an incredible opportunity."

Her immediate boss, school principal Susan Hargis, would concur. But Hargis would also say the honor landed on the right desk.

Among other things, Goulet is credited for her leadership as the chair of the Kaiserslautern Middle School Improvement and Continuous School Progress Programs.

That’s a mouthful, but the 35-year-old Louisiana native helped lead the school through a successful school accreditation process and bring together a faculty that experienced a high turnover rate a year ago.

"She pulled it off, and not in a little way," Hargis said. "Not only is she a good teacher, but she is a good leader. She deserved it."

The kids in class seem to think well of her.

Step into Goulet’s classroom, where she also teaches U.S. history, and you’ll see a rather animated teacher who keeps her students on their toes by changing gears several times during a session.

In her beginning French class, the students move from grammar and pronunciation to French history and current affairs.

"Let’s get those brains burning," she says. "I want steam coming out of those ears."

Eighth-grader Alexandra Forzato, who helps tutor the beginners, said every class with Goulet is quick and lively.

"She is very interactive with everyone," said eighth-grader Alexandra Forzato. "She’s always happy."