Exemplary Program Award Winners

The School District of Onalaska is extremely proud and grateful to have been recognized for having an Exemplary French Program with Honors. Nestled in the bluffs on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, Onalaska High School has 900 students and offers three languages, French, Hmong, and Spanish.

Students are given the opportunity to explore French in 8th grade and start their language learning journey as a Freshmen in high school. With 40% of Freshmen choosing to enroll in French each year, we have created a curriculum that focuses on student’s proficiency in real-world contexts. As a capstone class, students are able to choose Dual Credit through the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay during their 4th year of French. This allows them to earn up to 14 college credits and a pathway to continue learning French at the post-secondary level. All three teachers are vested in the La Crosse – Epinal Sister City Exchange. Each year, a group of our students travels to Epinal, France and stays for three weeks with a host family. The following summer, their host brother or sister comes and stays with them for three weeks. In addition, we offer students the opportunity to travel to France every other year in a tourist-style trip for twelve days.

The French program at the Archer School for Girls offers numerous rich, authentic and purposeful opportunities for its students to engage with French-speaking peoples and cultures while building their language skills and developing global competencies. 

These opportunities are spurred on by a team of dedicated, experienced and highly qualified teachers (Travis Nesbitt* – PhD (UCLA), MA (Sciences Po Paris); Laurence Clerfeuille – PhD (USC), MA (Tulane); Natalie Kang – BA (CSUN), Cavilam alum; Sara Gil Sáiz – PhD candidate (Sorbonne). Finally, the panoply of offerings has contributed to a significant rise in French enrollment at Archer. Students begin studying French in 7th grade and follow a curriculum that aligns with the European Common Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) and prepares them for the DELF/DALF certifications. Coursework elicits student production in French and application to authentic tasks; it is interactive, rigorous, relevant and reflects the cultural diversity of the French-speaking world. It positions French studies as a gateway to global competence and equips students with the skills to understand, engage in and act upon the world. It culminates in an “Advanced Study” seminar in which students explore issues of environmental and social justice and use their voices and skills to promote positive and meaningful change.

From the beginning of their studies, students take advantage of abundant opportunities on and off campus to interact with and celebrate French. On campus, this includes National French Week and Journée Internationale de la Francophonie celebrations, Archer’s French Film Series (recently featuring “Cent kilos d’étoiles”), in-person and virtual guest speakers (recently including Haitian/Canadian author Marie-Célie Agnant in collaboration with the Centre de la Francophonie des Amériques), French Club and the National French Contest (33 medals and 36 honorable mentions in 2023). Off campus, students attend the American French Film Festival in Hollywood (formerly COLCOA) and concerts of touring artists (the last being Coeur de Pirate). Beyond our borders, interested students interact with French penpals studying at the American School of Paris, host French students in their homes through our partnership with “La Route des Langues,” and a group of 21 Archer students will soon participate in an 8-day course on “Environmental Sustainability in the European Context” in France and Belgium. Ultimately, Archer alums continue studying French in college and beyond. Recent alums have reported back on living in French houses on their campuses, participating in college study abroad programs, completing an internship in a Parisian neuroscience lab and earning masters degrees in French universities.

*recipient, 2022 Outstanding Educator Award – AATF SoCal

“Food, you said ?!” is what I first hear my students, at Crespi Carmelite High School, say, with glee in their eyes, after I introduce the French program and the exciting discoveries in the years to come… Based on the NCES statistics (as cited by Wightman, 2020), “the higher percentage of female language degrees (69%) is quite striking compared to the percentage for males (31%)” and these numbers are only echoed by the College Board statistics, but in our all boy school, we push against the trend as more and more students choose to continue their study of French. In the last three years two went on to continue their studies in Universities in France and one is starting an internship there this summer! Furthermore, spring break 2023, 21 students flew to France, with many of them already planning for the time they can go back…

While I am the only French teacher, in our school of 454 students, the program has grown, giving the chance for each level to expand. The students have become the drivers of their own learning and promoters of the French language, and the many Francophone cultures in our community. For World Language Week students compiled presentations on Francophone countries in a video to be projected for the entire school. Last year, AP French students created commercials and coached non-French speaking students and faculty members to be actors in their French commercials! And this year again, staff and faculty are looking forward to our yearly treasure-hunt in which they play an important role holding French clues all over campus that may lead the students to… the school’s kitchen to make French omelets!

Students also have their own online French magazine, and they had the chance to write a testimony of their experience and share a message important to them in the French publication Le Monde des Ados.

Finally, the opportunities offered by the AATF both locally (ATTF So Cal) and nationally have been an inspiration both for me and for my students. “Le Grand Concours” has given students who were already excelling another chance to challenge themselves. In French 1, the students understand already that a B could mean they may not join the Société Honoraire de Français as early as they wished in their high school career; this idea and the chance to apply for the Francophone Study Stipend has pushed my students to continue having fun in class while giving the best of themselves, not just in French, but all around.

Furthermore, we attend every year The American French Film Festival, participate in the AATF SoCal Film critique, and this year, one of Crespi’s students got the chance to be a member of the Jury for the Student Award! He was interviewed, attended his first movie premiere, watched many incredible movies, but most importantly, had the experience of a lifetime shifting his perspectives and his range of opportunities. On my end, getting involved with the AATF SoCal and attending the AATF national webinars have offered me the opportunity to meet and learn from incredible French teachers with a wealth of experience that enhances my creativity and desire to always do more for my students.

So, for my students and myself, I would like to say MERCI to all French teachers and to the AATF community!

Jennifer Reschly – 13 Years Teaching High School French, 12 Years at Clover High, World Languages Department Chair

Elizabeth Catoe – 14 Years Teaching High School French, 6 Years at Clover High

Cristy Bohlen – 17 Years Teaching High School French, 7 Years at Clover High

Despite the challenges of teaching and learning during the Covid pandemic, our French program continued to thrive with opportunities to learn the language, beginning in 6th grade. In fact, learners can take exploratory French in 6th through 8th grade, and even earn high school credit in 8th grade. Levels 1 and 2 are offered at both the ninth grade and main campuses, along with level 3 and 4 college preparation or honors offerings. Because of the block scheduling format, we have the good fortune of offering the French 4 Honors course in the fall so that learners who would like to take the AP course can do so in the spring, immediately after the level 4 course.

Our curriculum is continuously updated through collaborative meetings with all French teachers in the district. Through integrated performance assessments and authentic resources, among other methodologies mixed in, we prepare learners to communicate on real-world, current topics through an exploration of the products, practices, and perspectives of people in France and Francophone countries around the world. Opportunities to connect and collaborate with native speakers of French have been offered to our learners for several years, with participation in collaborative projects on sites such as Wikispaces, EdModo, and Google Slides, along with visits with web-based guest speakers and video chats on a wide variety of curriculum supported topics.

Regarding extra-curricular activities, we stay busy promoting French throughout the entire year. Beginning in August, our French Club and National French Honor Society hit the ground running with planning and activity implementation that often includes all students in our community at both the main and ninth grade campuses. We offer food and beverage tastings, both in class and during club and campus activity times, to name one of the exciting activities that helps us advertise all that our program has to offer. In addition to the many entertaining and delicious French and Francophone cultural offerings we have, our learners also have the opportunity to showcase their learning by participating in Le Grand Concours, the Seal of Biliteracy test, and other competitive contests when they are available in the state. Our students have been awarded top honors for their efforts. We are thrilled to offer a rich French program to our school community!

The French program at Lewis S. Mills High School is a small but impactful program with 2 teachers and 7 different classes offered (French 1 up to college level classes). Our teachers are highly qualified with advanced degrees. Our department coordinator has worked at the state level to provide workshops to Connecticut teachers on language development. She also has a strong background in curriculum development and has focused on revising our curriculum with a focus on comprehensible input as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our full-time French teacher serves on the AATF-CT Board as Directrice du Grand Concours. She regularly presents at and participates in all AATF-CT activities.

Our program has evolved over the past few years. In 2017, we added 2 University of Connecticut Early College Experience (UCONN ECE) courses. Our school regularly participates in the UCONN ECE French High School Immersion Day and Quiz Bowl each fall. In 2021, we expanded our offerings to include French 1.

Qualified students can apply to become members of the Société Honoraire de Français. Honor Society students offer tutoring, assist teachers, create lessons for after school enrichment classes for 5th graders, organize a Senior Citizen Prom, and organize our annual World Language Extravaganza which incorporates performances, food, contests, and more!

French Club (new in 2021) is a popular afterschool club. French Club members watch movies, play board games, listen and dance to music, make crepes, fondue, bûche de Noël, and more. French Week is always a big celebration. A special event that has been offered since 2019 is the French Night. It has grown and changed each year, but the premise remains the same – come to speak French for 3-4 hours in fun ways. We have done cheese tastings, arts and crafts, dancing, small group conversations over dessert, board games, trivia contests and more.

Students can participate in the Grand Concours each year and winners are celebrated at our schoolwide awards ceremony. In 2023, we began offering the Avant STAMP proficiency test to students to earn the Connecticut Seal of Biliteracy.  Eleven students earned the CT Seal of Biliteracy this year.

We have many students who have gone on to study French in college, some have majored and/or minored, and others have studied abroad. Graduates speak at our Induction ceremony and also have recorded videos of how they are still using the language for us to share with current students during National World Language Week.

Bonjour! My name is Manuela Langlois, and I am the French teacher at Goose Creek Memorial High School, in Baytown, Texas. in 2008, I started the French program in my school and in the past 15 years I have been teaching all levels of French: I, II, Honors and AP.

Goose Creek Memorial’s enrollment in the French classes stayed strong and has remained steady throughout the years. The retention for the French classes is around 50%. Most of the students continue all 4 years, despite the challenges in scheduling (French AP is only offered once a day, as I am the only teacher).

My approach to language acquisition is to encourage students to use the target language as much as possible. I teach 90% to 100% in the target language. I strive to create lessons that put my students at the center of instruction by focusing on a communicative-based curriculum. I keep them motivated by engaging them in centered activities and through stations, our 1-1 I-Pad program, and collaborative learning.

Students participate in several competition throw out the year such as the Gran Concours, the National French week, the Texas French Symposium, la Semaine de la Francophonie at UTSA, and the Farrington Contest in Houston.

Goose Creek Memorial is also the only high school in the district sponsoring a French Honor Society. I brought it back to the district after more than 30 years. Annually, I sponsor an induction ceremony with a small reception for its members, their family, and friends. The French Honor Society have steadily increased since we founded the Chapter, and it can now count on 25 members.

The GCM French Honor Society sponsors an annual French Week (la Semaine de la Francohonie) on our campus to celebrate and promote the French language and culture which generally takes place during Mardi Gras week or in March. During this week: we play French music during passing periods, we offer several activities after school and during lunch (pétanque, movie afternoon, mini soccer tournaments, games, and more). We have dress up days for both students and teachers with prizes for those who participate. We also organize a themed breakfast for all the faculty with the help of the jazz class and the culinary art students who prepare the crêpes and provide the entertainment.

We also work hard to get the community involved (adopt-a -spot trail cleaning, a picnic at the park, a masquerade ball, and an end of the year dinner and get together) and organize different activities to draw the attention of the entire campus.

During the spring and summer breaks, I organized educational travels to Europe and Asia with my students and parents. I’ve also had former students come and talk about their experiences with studying abroad. During COVID, we were not able to travel abroad, however, to continue connecting the students with the francophone community, I we organized a virtual partnership by videoconferencing with Lycée Saint-Joseph Machecoul, in France.

It has been a great honor to have been recognized as an Exemplary French Program by the AATF and my students and I are very grateful to receive this award.

Saints John and Paul School started its French program in September 2011 with 5 students who spoke French at home. We offered them to follow the official French national curriculum, which would allow them move back to France with the same level as they would have achieved there and feel comfortable in a French school. One year later, we created a French curriculum for students who were new to French language, and expanded it over the years. Today in our 400 students school, we have 108 students enrolled in the Fluent French track, and 95 students enrolled in the French track. We also offer a Spanish track to our students. Saints John and Paul school highly values the study of foreign languages, and all students take foreign language classes in our school starting in PreK or Kindergarten. In 8th grade, most of our Fluent French students enroll in the AP class and take the AP French and Culture Collegeboard examination. They consistently score a 5.

Elsa Douineau– 12 years teaching French, 12 years at Saints John and Paul school • Creator and Director of Foreign language program. Currently teaching grades 1, 2, 5, and AP French to bilingual students.

Sonia Bernard–  21 years teaching French,  4 years at Saints John and Paul school • PreK-K, 6th to 8th grade Bilingual students.

Fanny Pietri – 3 years teaching French,  1 year at Saints John and Paul school • Currently teaching 3rd and 4th grade bilingual students.

Pauline Appert – 3 years teaching French,  2 years at Saints John and Paul school • Grades 5th-8th.

Anne Duclos– 1 year teaching French, 1 year at Saints John and Paul school • Grades K-4th.

All teachers are committed to a full-immersion, French-only environment, from PreK to AP French. We have a very good teacher-to-student ratio, with one teacher for every 11 students on average.

The school administration is highly supportive of both French programs, regular and bilingual, as are the parents and the students. The school attracts French-speaking families from all over the world, which prompted us to create and ESL program to welcome these families.

Upon leaving the school, our alumni are equipped with a good level of French. Students taking regular French usually get placed in French 2 or Honors; Fluent French students either attend French schools in France or abroad, and are very successful, or attend an American school and start the study of a third or fourth language. After graduating from high school, some of them attend colleges in France.

Our school is committed to service learning, and our Fluent French program is partnering with the French association Les Petits Frères des Pauvres, which serves elderly people in need in France. We also started a twinning programme with L’école Privée Belge de Lubumbashi, based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our aim is to open our students to the francophone world, develop intercultural citizenship, and build empathy,  through authentic exchanges among students from very different countries. 

Our students have the opportunity to participate in Le Grand Concours. Each year, they receive medals, and in three years, eight students qualified as platinum winners. Our FLES students also participated in the National FiES Commission Poster contest. In 2022, two students placed 1st in the 4th-6th division, and one student place 3rd in the K-1st grade division.

The North Allegheny School District is proud to be recognized as an exemplary program with honors. We are a public school district outside of Pittsburgh, PA serving over 8,000 students. Our World Language department offers French, German, Latin, and Spanish, with French being the second most popular language choice among students. We currently have five full time French teachers teaching 10 different levels of French, from exploratory through AP.

Our district offers three college in high school courses through a partnership with a local university: the honors French IV and honors French V courses are offered as the equivalent of French 102 (2nd semester French) and AP French is the equivalent of French 201 (3rd semester French). The world language department was the pilot for our district in its implementation of the college in high school program, which has now spread to all other departments at the high school level due to its initial success within our department. Students also have the option to take the AP exam to earn college credit through the College Board’s AP exam process. Our district has offered AP French since 2001 and our students have achieved much success through this program. Our students consistently perform above both the state and global average on the exam.

NA’s high school buildings have active French clubs and qualified students are invited to join our chapter of the Société honoraire de français at the senior high school. Our SHF chapter has translated pen pal letters to help a local elementary school communicate with their pen pals in Burkina Faso, has started a letter-writing campaign to reach out to French patients in hospitals over the holidays, and looks forward to growing our partnership with a local charity that works to make education more accessible in Burkina Faso. Students in honors French IV and V are invited to participate in the Grand concours every year, and typically earn high honors both in our chapter and nationally.

Our French teachers are all certified teachers who have experience taking advanced courses in education and language studies. We seek out opportunities to continue our professional development and to further network with French teachers in the area and around the world. We develop engaging lessons for students that incorporate technology and authentic resources. Our department looks forward to growing our enrollment and celebrating this incredible distinction.

Written by: Student Kaleb Houle-Lawrence – Secretary of SHF

The French program at Fall Mountain Regional High School has provided dozens of children with immense access to opportunity. Studying the language of French, or any language in general, is a truly transformative experience for students. By educating the mind in another language, one is opened up to new experiences and ideas. For each student, their reason for studying French is different; they each hold their own unique passions that inspire them to continue their further study of the language. At Fall Mountain, the most important aspect of our program is ensuring that every student maximizes their own individual potential and is surrounded by a community of support where they can fall in love with a language.

With the support of the local community, our school’s admin team, and students alike, Fall Mountain has been able to develop a program that actively fosters that community. Our school has worked in tandem with organizations such as the Franco-Américan Centre (a non-profit in Manchester, NH) to provide students with a superior language education. Several students have worked with the Franco-Américan Centre (FAC) as interns, in positions such as blog writing and social media management. Students throughout all levels of French (French I – French V AP) have participated in conversation groups run by the FAC. Many students have also participated in the online variant designed to support student learning, which is designed for teens learning French.

Culturally, the French program provides dozens of field trips throughout the year, from attending concerts (most recently Le Vent du Nord) to going to public events such as NH Poutinefest. The largest trips are, of course, traveling to Francophone nations such as Canada and France. Through these experiences, students are able to live within the culture of a place and expand their own cultural awareness. In February of 2021, the French program traveled to Québec City for a weekend and maneuvered life in a second language as a community of comrades and friends. Most importantly, though, they were exposed to a culture that may not align directly with their own, thereby pushing them towards becoming global citizens.

Academically, our program has flourished in its continued growth. Recently, we initiated an AP-level course in our French program. Within the past few years, we also launched our chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français, which recognizes high-achieving students within our program and our school. This group of students has helped ameliorate our program by allowing students to lead activities in our French Club. This further develops the community of our program as well as the leadership skills of the students. Our program has also produced five students that have been certified as biliterate in both English and French via either the AAPPL or Avant STAMP assessments. Current and former students have also received gold, silver, and bronze medals from the Grand Concours, the National French Contest, as of spring 2023.

As we continue to expand our French program in the coming years, we will foster deeper connections with the community and augment the number of opportunities our students are able to take advantage of. From widening student cultural competence to honoring and encouraging high-achieving students who have a desire to give back to their communities, the French program at Fall Mountain will continue to implement the values for which it was awarded this honor.

George S. Parker High School is in Janesville, Wisconsin (southern Wisconsin). The student population is usually around 1200, but was lower due to options provided by the district in response to COVID-19. Many families opted to enroll their students in the district’s virtual school for the year with varying degrees of success. The French program numbers were down because of this, but students did return ot French when they came back to school for in-person learning for the second semester.

Happily, Parker gained two sections of French for the 2021-2022 school year! We have an active French Club and SHF, we travel to France with Xperitas every other year, and students have opportunities to be involved in the Grand Concours and the Concours Oral with AATF-WI. We offer field trips and immersion nights, as well as marching in the Homecoming parade and celebrating National French Week.

French instruction at Parker is centered around culture. Students love the authentic resources available to them, whether a video, infographic, or a screenshot from an Insta account. This is what keeps the students engaged and signing up year after year. Additionally, as a French teacher, one does not only teach French! Students love learning about art, history, literature, daily life, math, science, culinary arts, music, etc. 

Several things have become student favorites: lundi lecture, manie musicale, and vendredi vidéo. Mondays begin with some free reading from the class library; it’s a great way to begin the week! Sometimes there are visits from Madame Behn’s foster kittens or dogs from the Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin. Students use this opportunity to practice reading aloud to animals who need to be socialized! (One dog was adopted by a student a few days after his visit!) Manie musicale happens in the spring, usually before spring break. Students love learning the lyrics, guessing the bracket winner, and adding the songs to their own playlists. Finally, vendredi vidéo occurs every Friday and students study francophone films that complement the themes of study during each level of French. Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources become a sort of soap opera for French 3 students, while films like Une vie de chat have students screaming at the screen in French 2! Routine is so important to Parker’s French students and it’s what kept us going through a global pandemic.

The French program at Boiling Springs High School is served by one full-time teacher, one shared middle school / high school French teacher, and one shared high school French / Spanish teacher. We work collaboratively with our Spanish teacher colleagues for a dynamic, innovative, and highly-respected World Language Department. Two of the three French teachers are National Board certified and are the first and only two staff members in the entire district with that distinction. All have studied abroad in Francophone nations. All are members of and participate in local, state, and regional professional development conferences as well as the AATF Susquehanna Valley Chapter.

All seventh graders take an introductory French course as part of their creative arts cycle; this graded course meets for one trimester. Eighth graders choose between French I, Spanish I, or are placed in a remedial reading course. Most students who complete the first level at the middle school are able to begin in the second level at the high school. Due to semester block scheduling, some students take two credits in one year. Language is considered a core subject.

While many French programs are showing enrollment declines or are under attack, we have found a resurgence in interest in our program, realizing that it is the result of the faculty providing strong lessons and unique opportunities to our students. These opportunities include biennial trips to France, participation in the Grand Concours, French Club activities, the Société Honoraire de Français, National French Week, National Foreign Language Week, an international dinner, pen pals in the Toulouse area, local competitions, internships, and service opportunities with our Special Education Department.

All French teachers follow best practices for language teaching. Through stations, our 1-1 laptop program, flipped lessons, and collaborative learning, we work to put the learner at the center of instruction. We teach 90% to 100% in the target language and provide students with the skills to
progress to that goal as well. Through regular and honors classes, and sometimes courses with a special education professional, we strive to meet the needs of diverse learners. We started to achieve our goal this year of moving forward with a revamp of our curriculum to focus on IPA assessments and culturally-based units. We already have moved our grade books and assessments to Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational modes of communication, as reflected by the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards.

All three of us are proud to be French teachers. We hope to continue providing our students the
opportunities to discover other cultures as they learn about themselves and their place in our
connected world. Recognition by AATF has been a significant honor, one that we have fully
publicized to our school and community so that all are aware of the strength of our program and
the strength of the students with whom we have the pleasure to work each day.

The E.O. Smith French program, run by Melissa Tubbs since 2013, has experienced steady growth and now counts 113 students across 6 classes and 5 levels. Thematic units in all levels 1 through 3 each have performance-based formative and summative assessments that are assessed on rubrics using ACTFL and department-specific skill standards. French 4 now has an AP option with the number of test takers increasing yearly, and French 5 is a semesterised ECE course in conjunction with UConn. The curriculum boasts thematic, vertically aligned units across all levels, using adapted and authentic materials and relevant topics that connect to students’ lives. These include (but are not limited to): cuisine, health, interpersonal relationships, growing up, shopping, travel, music, art, sports, theater and cinema, just to name a few. The French 3 and 4 curricula are written in the 6 College Board AP strands.

A cornerstone of the French program is the Mastery approach to learning and the Peer Tutoring support program, which have proven over the years to instill a better work ethic and ensure a stronger grasp of the content on the part of both tutors and tutees. The success of Mastery learning in the program would be impossible without the commitment and enthusiasm of peer tutors, many of whom were once tutees themselves. As of this year, 23 World Language Honor Society tutors (juniors and seniors), and 12 preservice sophomore tutors assist 40 tutees on a weekly basis.

The E. O. Smith French program has multiple opportunities for travel and service learning: a biannual exchange with a lycée in Quimper, Bretagne, France; a smaller weekend trip to Quebec; a Société Honoraire de Français; the aforementioned Peer Tutoring program; and a more informal French Club, organized each year by dedicated seniors. It is a small but mighty program, and a wonderful group of students who make their teacher very proud!

The Kettering Fairmont High School French Program in Ohio has again received EXEMPLARY WITH HONORS distinction from the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). There are only a handful of schools in the United States to hold this title, and Fairmont is the only high school in the midwest region to be awarded this honor. They have held this distinction since 2015.

The French program at FHS has enjoyed great growth and success in the past several years. All students take the Grand Concours National French Test. The program now includes eighth graders, and offers a new Honors II and Honors III program as well as International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement Honors IV and V; the latter two courses offer college credit for advanced coursework. Because of their strong background in French, many FHS graduates go on to major and minor in French studies at their chosen universities while others test out of their college language requirements completely.

Over 150 FHS students have participated in the French travel program in the past several years and they recently introduced the Sister City Program for home-stay summer exchange. These programs enhance and augment students’ French language skills, international-mindedness and global understanding that is promoted in the classroom. Other notable student accomplishments include participation in AATF National French Week and annual winners in the National French essay contest, National Video Contest, SHF National French Writing Contest and $1000 travel scholarship program. Each year about two dozen members are tapped for induction into the Société d’Honneur Français French National Honor Society. Throughout the school year, students enjoy campus immersion experiences and visits from French and Francophone visitors to the classroom.

Fairmont’s vibrant French Club has 100 members and holds many events of Francophone culture including visits to regional museums, our annual Cheese-Tastings and Mardi Gras celebrations. Students make traditional macarons and celebrate with fondue, crèpes, mousse and more. A sporty addition to activities includes playing the traditional Pétanque ballgame, sets purchased with monies received from a national grant. They donated funds to refugees and adopt children at Christmastime. The senior class humanitarian “Peace Bracelets” project raised $600 for the International Red Cross. Students organized for a tree to be planted in memory of a fallen classmate. A scholarship fund was developed in this classmate’s name to be offered annually to a French senior. KFHS French Department holds an annual Cérémonie d’Honneur to honor their many Grand Concours national laureates, SHF inductees and recognize outstanding seniors and international students. The program also features talented French student musicians, acknowledging Fairmont’s international Francophone students and presenting the AATF Outstanding Senior Award.

The FHS French Department staff is comprised of teachers Mary Townsend and Michele McCarty. Mary recently held state office in AATF and was French Affiliate to the Ohio Foreign Language Association (OFLA) and is an Ohio Department of Education Master Teacher. She was chosen as OFLA Outstanding High School Teacher for Modern Languages and also received the AATF Valette Legacy Award for increased growth in a French program. Michele taught at the university level before joining FHS faculty. They have both studied abroad and travel extensively. Their partnership, passion for French and dedication to their students’ success has garnered continued national recognition for excellence in French at Kettering Fairmont High School.

The Onalaska High School French Program strives to provide students with the foundation for language skills and global competencies before they embark on their journey to post-secondary schooling, military service, or career. The program provides students two choices for French studies at OHS: Regular French 1, 2, 3, 4 and AP French Language and Culture. Students are exposed to 6 weeks of French instruction in 8th grade. For each group of students, the high school teachers travel to the middle school to start the process of making connections with students, explaining the high school program, and to promote long-term study of French.

Teachers Amy Ticknor, Brian Wopat and Rebecca Chaouki strive to provide students with real-world experiences while learning French. This includes giving students pen pals from Langres, France and bringing in guest speakers from France to talk to the students. The teachers participate in a program through UW-Madison called Student Connections. This program partners up current UW-Madison students studying in Aix-en-Provence to provide extra teaching materials and communicate with students. The students write back and forth along with Skyping numerous times throughout the year.

The teachers believe it is important to provide students a clear picture of how learning French is a lifelong process and that the transition from high school to postsecondary school isn’t that daunting. Each year, the teachers take the level 4/AP students to UW-La Crosse to sit in on a third or fourth semester French class. They work with the professor to involve the students in the lesson as if they were university students. Afterward, the group goes to the local French restaurant for an French meal and French conversation. Furthermore, we have brought in former students to share their experience of continuing learning French beyond high school and how it has positively impacted their lives. With the Lead with Languages campaign, the teachers created posters with how students have continued to use their French past high school to hang in the hallway for students to look at.

Finally, our program works continuously to provide students opportunities to be involved in using their French experiences outside of the classroom. We sponsor a French National Honor Society, French Club, opportunities to participate in the French Speaking Pronunciation Contest and the National French Contest.

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire French section promotes multilingualism as the key to intercultural understanding through a wide variety of courses and programs: a certificate in French proficiency, a French minor, and a French major, including a teaching track. Dr. Jessica Miller, Dr. Lise Hoy, and Prof. Amanda Hilson teach student- centered classes in which examples from la francophonie provide multiple perspectives, celebrate the diversity inherent to French studies, and give a voice to underrepresented groups. The curriculum is based on clear program outcomes that are assessed yearly.

Finally, Dr. Hoy and Dr. Miller have worked together to develop upper-division courses that will pique students’ interest. Dr. Hoy developed a course on French gastronomy, as well as a course on the city of Paris through history. Dr. Miller updated the pronunciation course as a content-based class on the theme of creativity with a multicultural focus, and created two 400-level class: one on the topic of environmental and linguistic diversity, and another on the topic of social justice.

Despite national and local challenges impacting language studies, the current numbers indicate that UW-French is strengthening. Today, there are 102 students with a declared French program, the highest number recorded in available data (2001-present), with a significant from 67 students only 3 years ago in 2017. The French program at UW-Eau Claire is undeniably strong for a mid-size liberal arts university in a Midwestern town.

Efforts to articulate the curriculum in order for students to meet program and course outcomes, to offer courses that are culturally relevant and updated, and to advise and support students have been effective and need to continue.

Amos Alonzo Stagg High School has a wealth of opportunities for students who are curious about the world and want to know more about French language and culture. For my students, who come from vastly different backgrounds culturally and economically, language studies can be transformative. For some of my students, travel is not even in the picture economically, socially, culturally. Regardless, I know that travel will be possible for all students someday, maybe not always during high school. In the meantime, our program works hard to ensure that our students’ French language education can open eyes, ears, minds and doors to future opportunities- to a future driven by curiosity and a desire to keep learning about the world.

There is so much that we (me and our very supportive administrative team) can accomplish right in our classroom and in our community to provide language opportunities as part of the Stagg French Program. My students and I “travel” – to Paris, Dakar, Martinique, Québec, Beirut, Antananarivo (the capital of Madagascar), and to so many other Francophone places. My students can gain global perspectives regardless of whether or not they can afford to travel. My students whose parents come from Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo also provide stories and perspectives to help us understand the Francophone world. Our connections with our penpals in Bauges, France and our visits from the Québécois players on the Chicago Wolves have been ways to bring the world into our classroom. And being in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, we’re able to visit culturally significant places such as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Illinois Holocaust Museum where we can continue to explore sources of Francophone cultures and histories.

The growth of our program has taken time and is still a work in progress! Now, nine years into developing this program, we have so much to offer our students and we want to continue to grow. For all Stagg High School students, regardless of whether or not they are enrolled in the French program, we offer the French Circle, a student-led language and culture club where students can engage in interactive activities that explore facets of French culture like music, fashion and festivals. We are a member of the National French Honor Society, a program offered to students who stay enrolled in the French program for multiple years of study and meet the academic and cultural requirements. We are the home of current and former gold, silver and bronze medalists in Le Grand Concours, the National French Contest. We offer cultural fieldtrips for French classes levels 2 and above that allow our students to connect their classroom language learning to the outside world. We’re also very proud that our students leave the program confident that they can converse in French. Students in Level 4 / AP are in 100% French language settings and are able to function in the language with confidence. We offer opportunities for students to earn college credit through the Illinois Seal of Biliteracy and the AP French program and we have students who continue French classes at the college level.

It’s been our pleasure and privilege to learn about and work with organizations with Francophone connections like Expanding Lives (https://www.expandinglives.org/ ). And we’ve invited speakers into our classroom, such as visits from Francophone members of the Chicago Wolves, to help students interact with Francophone speakers and hear the stories of people from the Francophone world. We are working constantly to connect our students with opportunities that push our students grow socially, creatively, and academically through their work with the French language.

Creativity, collaboration, communication, flexibility- these are all 21 st century skills. We are proud to be able to help students develop these skills in our program, along with a compassion and concern for the world around us. We love that our students leave the program with a sense confidence that they know something about the world and want to keep learning and interacting, via their interest and passion in French language and Francophone cultures.

Bonjour! I am Sarah Thompson and I have had the honor of building the French program in the Greendale School District for the past six years. I started teaching at the middle school in Fall of 2015 and have since been fortunate enough to work with an amazing group of colleagues in both the Spanish
and German departments who have helped me to grow as a professional.

Greendale Middle School offers French, German and Spanish to 6th and 7th graders on an every other day schedule, and for 8th grade as an elective, that meets every day. When I first started in 2015, there were four sections at the middle school which has now increased to six. For students who choose to continue French in 8th grade most are able to go into French 2 their freshman year in high school.

The high school program has had its ups and downs over the years; however, since I began teaching at the high school in 2017 the enrollment, especially at the higher levels, has continued to grow. Every grade level from middle school to high school, has a strong scope and sequence that is centered around the six Advanced Placement Themes and the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards. Each level is made up of thematic units based on best practices with essential questions, proficiency targets, can do statements, affirmative values, and performance-based assessments. Teaching at both the middle and high school, has allowed me the ability to provide numerous opportunities to the students that were not previously available to those in either the middle school or the high school. This could not have been accomplished without parental support. Some of these opportunities included events such as: pen pal exchanges, field to attend UW-Milwaukee’s French Day, and explore the Art Institute of Chicago to experience some French artistic culture. I even afforded my students the opportunity to participate in AATF sponsored French contests such as the Grand Concours and the Concours Oral.

Over the years my students have been inducted into the les Jeunes Amis du Français and Société Honoraire du Français or French National Honor Societies and participate in National French Week contests. Students were able to apply for scholarship opportunities offered through the Swiss Benevolent Society of Chicago, which allowed them to attend the Concordia Language Villages. They were also able to practice their language skills with some visiting Canadians when the Friendship Force of Milwaukee visited our classrooms. Opportunities such as these have allowed students to explore all that the Francophone language has to offer with the added benefit of the students making lasting friendships along the way. We were also able to establish a French Club Program that provided enrichment activities surrounding the French culture for all students to participate in, regardless if they took French classes or not. Along with building a sense of community amongst the students, they were able to develop and increase their knowledge in both the French culture and the very language itself. I have attached photos below showing some of the students as they participated in the various activities.

Being able to teach these students has been one of the most rewarding experiences I could have ever imagined as a teacher. Most of my high school students were ones whom I had previously taught when they were in middle school. Being part of their journey from the most novice level of French to the more advanced French levels has allowed me to deepen my relationships with them as a trusted mentor based on mutual respect. I have watched my students become a special type of family, supporting and encouraging each other throughout their language journey. It has been a truly joyful and inspiring experience to watch students who came into 6th grade with no previous French knowledge, develop such intense and unscripted discussions in the French language. These discussions can extend anywhere from simply hearing about the various group chats they have outside of school in French to the study sessions they participate in to prepare for their exams.

I have been so blessed to have started my career in the Greendale School District where I have been able to share my passion and love for the Francophone language and culture. Not only have I been able to provide these wonderful students with a quality education in French, but I have had the pleasure of helping them to grow to become global citizens. It has been a privilege to help them grow as individuals and collectively in the francophone language and culture. I am honored and humbled by the recognition the Greendale High School French Program has received from AATF through this award.

Bonjour! My name is Paula Johnson-Fox, and I am the French teacher at Muskego High School. I started teaching French in Muskego in 1996 after earning my Master of Arts in Foreign Languages and Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I am a member of local, state, and national professional organizations and participate regularly in their professional development and networking opportunities.

Muskego High School is a suburban public high school located in Southeast Wisconsin, west of Milwaukee. We currently offer French and Spanish classes for levels 1-6. Our French 5 and 6 students are able to earn college credit while in high school through the CAPP dual-enrollment program sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Our middle school program offers French 1 and 2 in grades 7 and 8. These courses use the same curriculum and assessments as the high school level 1 and 2 courses; therefore, students can enroll in French 3 as a freshman.

As a teacher, I focus on using French at least 90% of the time, and I infuse lessons with elements from many different methodologies. Activities and assessments vary according to my students’ interests, strengths, and needs. Each unit uses a wide-variety of activities so that students have multiple opportunities to interact with, react to, and communicate in the target language. Instruction focuses on the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking through whole class, small group, and partner work. The ultimate goal is for all students to develop a higher level of proficiency in all three modes: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational.

Culture is at the center of every lesson and students are encouraged to compare the target culture’s products, practices, and perspectives to those of their own culture. In order to do this, authentic resources are used in all levels of instruction. Throughout the year, we celebrate culture through holidays; la Saint Nicolas (making shoes), la Chandeleur (cooking crêpes), and Mardi Gras (eating King’s Cake), for example.

Muskego High School students have celebrated National French Week since its inception by the AATF. Some of the students’ favorite traditions include our mancala tournament, the Eiffel Tower construction contest, dancing, and eating French foods. Additionally, since 2017, students have listened to, watched, discussed, and voted on their favorite songs and music videos during Manie Musicale de Mars, and this year, we added the Noel Madness bracket to our December lessons.

In order for students to realize the relevance of French and encourage their interest in Francophone cultures, Muskego High School offers students opportunities to use their French outside of the classroom. Our French Club is open to all students who have an interest in French, regardless of their enrollment in a French class. Past events have included the homecoming banner competition, field trips to the Holiday Folk Fair, crêpe making parties, decoration of mini bûches de Noël, BreakoutEDU games, and GooseChase scavenger hunts. Additionally, the Muskego Chapter of Société Honoraire de Français completes service projects to benefit local and global charitable organizations. We have sponsored food drives, hosted tutoring sessions, and helped at school events like Course Information Night and 8th Grade Orientation. This year, students are raising money for Heifer International and painting Kindness Rocks to be hidden around the community.

Muskego French and Spanish students have the opportunity to travel to France and Spain every other year. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to use French to meet their daily needs, to see famous museums and monuments studied in class, and compare their culture to those of both France and Spain. For many students on the trip, this is their first time traveling internationally, and it is exciting to see their cultural observations firsthand.

My personal hope is that by studying French, students are encouraged to be global citizens who appreciate the diversity of the world around them. Furthermore, I hope that students are inspired to become francophiles who want to continue studying the French language and learning about Francophone cultures. And finally, when given the opportunity, I hope alumni will be able to use the French language they learned in class successfully in real-life situations and have an appreciation of the wide variety of cultures they may encounter in their adult life through work, travel, or personal relationships.

Amity High is a first year recipient of the AATF Exemplary Program. The French Program at Amity High School seeks to provide a robust and comprehensive language learning experience, with instruction across all of the three modes of communication, leveraging ACTFL standards and World-Language-Learning community best practices.  Instruction is via classes beginning with conversational and grammatical basics in French I and French II, followed by more advanced courses of study through French III (including an Honors class) and French IV (including opportunities to study for the AP Exam and to earn college credit at the University of Connecticut). The program has showed renewed strength and has flourished due to the enthusiasm and continued dedication to enriching the curriculum with authentic learning opportunities.

Students enrolled in French are presented with experiences outside of the classroom including a myriad of field trips to French restaurants and crêperies, in addition to visits to the Yale Art Gallery and Hill-Stead Museum, whereby the tours are conducted in French. Amity also offers bi-annual trips to Québec for Carnaval or to France, whereby students have the opportunity to be immersed in the French language and cultures of these regions, while applying their learning to a real-world setting.

The Amity chapter of the National French Honor Society is very active as well, taking part in a variety of community service programs with nearby schools, organizing a Crêpe and Croissant Night at our school as fundraisers, and making monetary donations to deserving charities
including: UNICEF, High-Five for Haiti, and organizing a book drive for Mauritania. The society also raises money as part of a scholarship fund for graduating seniors who plan to continue their studies of French.

Each year the French teachers, Ashely Caron (MA, UConn, La Sorbonne) and Mohamedou Moustapha (PhD) are inspired to continue the growth of the French program by integrating current culture, socio-political events, pop culture and art into their curriculum and extracurricular activities to bring relevancy and enthusiasm for the language thus demonstrating how the acquisition of French can bring a keener sense of global awareness an enlightenment.

Clover High School in Clover, SC is honored to receive the Exemplary Program award from the AATF. Over the past 5 years, we have been fortunate enough to grow our program, and currently have three full-time French teachers in our school, one of which teaches exclusively on our 9th grade campus. We collaborate frequently in order to provide our students with good articulation throughout each level, and consistent proficiency-based assessments. Our goal is to provide a communicative and culturally engaging environment for our students, including having the opportunity to connect and communicate with students around the world.

Our school offers an AP program in French, and honors credit in levels 3 and 4. We have recently participated in the National French Contest and plan to continue and build our participation in this nationwide event. In addition, our school offers membership to French Club and Société Honoraire de Français. These organizations are very active, and participate with daily events in National French Week and National Foreign Language Week. For example, we serve café au lait and croissants to staff, set up trivia and photo booths in the cafeteria for all students during lunches, host a Day of No English, and sell French desserts.

The French Club meets monthly and takes a trip to a French restaurant once a year, in addition to hosting a Bûche de Noël bake-off, chocolate-making, cheese-tasting, scavenger hunts, and Mardi Gras crafts. The French Honor Society has monthly French conversation hours at a nearby café and also interacts in the community through creating Impressionist paintings, tutoring other French students, and serving at school and community events, like the Back to School bash.

Glacier High School’s presence on this list of prestigious French programs is unique. Although we are considered a large high school with a student population of over 1200 in a close knit rural community one hour from the Canadian border, we are also at least eight hours and four often snow covered mountain passes away from the closest museum or French restaurant. Schools in our state who have language programs at all are far and few between and even then, most are Spanish or German. In addition to these challenges, our high school and our state university system have no foreign language requirements for graduation or for admittance.

However, in the shadow of Glacier National Park’s soaring peaks (no joke, our library’s windows have a panoramic view!), incredibly passionate students, a wonderfully supportive community, and dedicated staff have helped create a program that earned the Exemplary with Honors designation this year. Our goal is to serve as a model for other small schools who want to share with their students the importance of global citizenry for the future of our country and our world.

In a small school, our greatest asset is collaboration. We realized early on that teaming up with our Spanish colleagues to promote the idea that all languages were a way to achieve global citizenry has helped our students and school community support us and, in turn, promote our program. In our program, language isn’t viewed as a skill that can be separated out but a single piece of a puzzle that is a part of their education as young adults. Gone are the slide shows where I show them the professions that await them if they study French (Most would just tell me “I don’t need to speak French for my career so why learn it?” anyway!) as they are replaced with discussions of what it means to be a global citizen and why this is important in our world. We focus on providing our students with somewhere to fit in, a place of acceptance, open-mindedness, and tolerance. Who wouldn’t want our future citizens to embody these attributes?

Exchange programs, travel opportunities, International Education Week, National French Week, French Club, le Grand Concours, Global Seal of Biliteracy, local conversation groups, a Dual Enrollment program, proficiency based grading, Comprehensible Input lessons, French movie nights, la Société Nationale de Francais, la Soiree d’Immersion…our offerings are incredibly rare for our state but not for most programs around the nation. What makes us special is that somehow, in this cold little corner of Montana, we have students who over the years develop an amazing passion for the global message our teachers continually share. Over half of the student population is enrolled in languages with double the number of French students eight years ago. They not only take two years of language, but sometimes three and even four years. In fact, 75% of students who start French complete four full years of study. Some even take all four years of both French and Spanish!

Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to make sure that our program was not simply important but necessary. In our small community, convincing everyone that they would need French for the rest of their lives was impossible. But showing our students, school, and community that language study provides the awareness and understanding of the world around them and prepares them for whatever their future holds, we secured their support to help our program grow and flourish.

As for our future, as we say in Montana, the Big Sky is the limit! If you need more specific information about activities or events or other ways that we’ve developed our program feel free and contact me at hills@sd5.k12.mt.us or check out our program website at https://ghsfrenchprogram.weebly.com/.

Ralston Valley High School is a Professional Learning Community where we focus on the whole student. Our entire staff collaborates on the best classroom practices to maximize student learning. Our World Language Department offers Spanish, French and German, levels one through AP.  For the first time in many years, two of our feeder middle schools are offering French 1. How exciting to see interest in French growing here in our Denver-area community!

Our French department has one full-time teacher – me, Andrea Leslie, and one part-time teacher, Dr. Christian Roche. I am National Board Certified and have been teaching here for 15 years. Dr. Roche, a native French speaker, has a PhD in French literature and shares his time teaching between our school and Metro State University in Denver.

Our entire department strives to meet the goal of 90% instruction in the target language. As we move toward more project-based assessments and IPAs, we are introducing more and more authentic sources–articles, videos, infographics, songs. We are fortunate to have one-to-one technology allowing us to weave technology tools into the daily curriculum is easy. Students watch videos or listen to a podcast or song as often as they like and at their own pace. Research becomes easier–we can simply let students loose to explore topics on their own, then share what they learn through online platforms which also allows for interpersonal written exchanges.

As we design lesson plans, we are always asking the question: How does this relate to a real-life situation? Using the Integrated Performance Assessment model, we set a series of tasks in a real-world setting. As our Spanish-teaching colleagues also use IPAs, we collaborate on cross-language activities. We also have a new approach to end-of-unit assessment–no more large tests. Instead,  students do a cumulative project that brings together all elements of the unit. Along the way, we will give small check-point assessments to determine if students are learning the key elements they need to succeed. These projects are designed to be culturally relevant and include choice.

What is more culturally appealing and relevant to hungry teenagers than food?  Typical culinary events include making crêpes for La Chandeleur and reenacting Paris’ contest for the best baguette as the Grand Prix de la Baguette d’Arvada. Outside the classroom, we participate in the Denver area’s annual Festinéma Junior sponsored by the Alliance Française de Denver and in the variety of activities and competitions at the University of Northern Colorado multi-state World Language Day. As we know the best ways for students to experience French is to actually be in French-speaking country, our program has offered a trip to France or Quebec every year; often these include a homestay.

We have a very active Société Honoraire de Français; we celebrate National French Week with a chocolate mousse eating contest, a French Top Chef competition and a French Waiter’s Race. We celebrate la Saint Catherine by making fancy hats and gingerbread pigs. Students also learn to make such culinary creations as a croquembouche or a croque monsieur. French movie afternoons happen regularly.  Every French student participates in the Grand Concours. 

Looking forward, our goal is to graduate students who are work-force ready with important language skills. We have just learned that our school district will be offering a diploma endorsement in biliteracy to any student who demonstrates proficiency in English and at least one foreign language. We are embracing this and will continue to develop and refine our instruction so that it is rigorous, relevant and useful to students are they look forward to a global work environment. 

Loyola Academy is a coeducational, private, Catholic, Jesuit, college preparatory high school located in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. With an enrollment of 2000 students, Loyola Academy is the largest Jesuit high school in the United States and one of the largest Catholic high schools in the country. The school has a thriving and robust French program that has been recognized by the AATF as Exemplary with Distinction.

French at Loyola Academy is strong in terms of faculty preparation and teaching, student enrollment and engagement, and administrative and parental support. The French teaching team consists of three experienced and tenured teachers at the school: Mme Inna McNally, Mme Cathy Kendrigan, and M. Thomas Sapp. All have earned master’s degrees, all regularly participate in professional development opportunities in the Chicagoland area and abroad, and all share with students their love of the French language and Francophone cultures, including offering students travel abroad opportunities. In addition, they often attend conferences together. For example, the three teachers attended the AATF National Convention in Martinique in July 2018, as well as the Guadeloupe extension. M. Sapp currently serves as president of the Chicago and Northern Illinois AATF chapter, the country’s largest, and was an AATF Future Leader. Mme Kendrigan has received the Dorothy S. Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Award (Secondary).

Enrollment in French courses at Loyola Academy has been very strong and steady the past several years. The school currently has 260 French students in fifteen sections of French. Students in French I-IV are in either Honors French or College Prep (regular-track) French to best meet their learning needs. AP French Language and Culture is offered as the fifth-year French course at the school.

The French teachers at Loyola Academy believe that the purpose of learning French is to be able to communicate and interact in the language with cultural understanding and awareness (often called interculturality). French classes at all levels emphasize meaningful communication in French. From the moment students enter our classrooms, they are immersed in a Francophone environment that exposes them to authentic materials from a variety of Francophone cultures and perspectives. Each French teacher has colorful signs posted in their classrooms: «Vous êtes dans le territoire français» and «Langue officielle: le français». We are a 1:1 iPad school, allowing students easy access to the Francophone world.

The French teachers are very collaborative, and we readily share materials and ideas with each other, including what we have learned from attendance at different conferences. In the World Languages office, our three desks are located next to each other, and we work together on vertical curriculum. In addition, the school provides the three French teachers with a common planning period two out of every three class days that allows us to collaborate, share resources, and learn from each other. When French students seek our help in the office, we readily help them, even if they are not our own students.

It is not hyperbolic for the French teachers to assert that we offer EVERY possible AATF national and chapter opportunity to our students. First, we are fortunate to be a part of the Chicago and Northern Illinois chapter that sponsors many of its own programs. Our students are regular participants in ALL of these programs and are often recognized as chapter award winners. These include the chapter trivia contest and meme contest for National French Week, the High School Immersion Day, and the Concours oral. At the national level, our students participate in the National French Week video and Kahoot! contests, the National French Contest, and the Société Honoraire de Français. Our students have been recognized with travel awards from the SHF, creative writing awards, and video contest prizes. We also offer the AATF Outstanding Senior in French Award and the AATF Award for Excellence in French each year to deserving graduates.

In addition to the AATF chapter and national programs, we offer many unique Loyola Academy activities and opportunities for students to gain confidence with their French linguistic abilities. These include a French Mass during National French Week, which we invite middle school students to attend, “French Week” in the cafeteria, Croissants et Conversation (a before school program), French Club (an after school program), and travel abroad opportunities to Francophone countries every two years. Each year, we arrange opportunities for our students to dine at a local French restaurant, visit the Art Institute of Chicago for special French-themed exhibits, attend theatrical performances of French plays, and participate in the school’s “Language Olympics” and “French waiter” relay contests.

All teachers have a commitment to a full-immersion, French-only environment, from the Middle School through to the Upper School. Students ask their questions in French, and English is not permitted in our classes.

Our teacher-to-student ratio is excellent, with about one teacher for every 9 students on average for each section.

The school administration is highly supportive of the French program, as are the parents and the students.

Our 182 French students represent approximately 36% of ALL students studying language in grades 6-12. Other languages offered are Spanish, Latin, Mandarin (grades 9-12) and Ancient Greek (every other year). Given the fact that we are a smaller school, we are proud to be able to offer such a wide range of options with 13 separate sections of French in grades 7-12 plus 4 sections of 6th grade French.

Beyond seeing our students’ results through simple test scores, we have excellent success in terms of our alumni continuing on with French after graduation, either at college or at work.

For 8 years now, regular one-on-one videoconferencing sessions with students abroad are part of many courses’ curricula, and provide students with the ultimate authentic experience in which to communicate with peers in the target language.

Our Upper School has a long-standing partnership with a private school in Paris, Saint Michel de Picpus, and this year marked the 12th anniversary of our relationship, making it our longest running exchange program.

St. Luke’s is an innovator in terms of blended learning in World Languages, and now all level 1 language classes (French, Spanish, Latin, and Mandarin) are offered as blended courses, and it all started with our French 1 program. As part of expansion efforts, we created and launched a program called “World Language Learning Online” or “W.L.L.O.”, in which students may cover the content of a full level one French course at their own pace, anytime.

In addition to Le Grand Concours, we present the AATF Outstanding Senior in French award each year and we also send nominees for the Connecticut-based “AATF CT Tom Betts Senior Prize” and the “AATF CT Alberta Conte Junior Prize.” In 2018, the candidate from St. Luke’s won the CT AATF Senior Prize, so we were thrilled. Our French students participate in the Connecticut-based COLT Poetry Competition as well.

Our French team gets very excited about National French Week each year. We do special classroom activities, but also work hard to get the community involved. In particular, we decorate many of the public spaces, offer fun activities during the three lunch periods, and do presentations in front of the entire student body. Another major language-based celebration at our school is called World Language Week and it is a yearly event that usually takes place in late April. The French program puts a huge amount of effort into World Language Week, as well.

Outside of World Language Week, our French program offers other events for students that involve leaving campus. For example, French 4 students read Gaston Leroux’s novel “Le fantôme de l’opéra” every year, so Jon Shee takes students to New York each spring to see the melodramatic masterpiece live.

All teachers are active members of the AATF and attend at least one AATF event per year, though most of us attend most or all local AATF events. Please visit www.aatfct.org/aatf-ct-events to see pictures of our AATF involvement.

To see many pictures and videos of our many French-related programs, please visit: tinyurl.com/stlukesexemplarypics2019

Mrs. Cindy Bailey, Mr. Michael Bogdan, and Mrs. Emily Mater are the South Middleton School District French teachers.We work collaboratively with our Spanish teacher colleagues for a dynamic, innovative, and highly-respected World Language Department. Two of the three French teachers are National Board certified and are the first and only two staff members in the entire district with that distinction. All have studied abroad in Francophone nations. All are members of and participate in local, state, and regional professional development conferences as well as the AATF Susquehanna Valley Chapter.

All seventh graders take an introductory French course as part of their creative arts cycle; this graded course meets for one trimester. Eighth graders choose between French I, Spanish I, or are placed in a remedial reading course. Most students who complete the first level at the middle school are able to begin in the second level at the high school. Due to semester block scheduling, some students take two credits in one year. Language is considered a core subject. 17-18 is the largest AP French enrollment since it began in 2011.

While many French programs are showing enrollment declines or are under attack, we have found a resurgence in interest in our program, realizing that it is the result of the faculty providing strong lessons and unique opportunities to our students. These opportunities include biennial trips to France, participation in the Grand Concours, French Club activities, the Société Honoraire de Français, National French Week, National Foreign Language Week, an international dinner, pen pals in the Toulouse area, local competitions, internships, and service opportunities with our Special Education Department.

All French teachers follow best practices for language teaching. Through stations, our 1-1 laptop program, flipped lessons, and collaborative learning, we work to put the learner at the center of instruction. We teach 90% to 100% in the target language and provide students with the skills to progress to that goal as well. Through regular and honors classes, and sometimes courses with a special education professional, we strive to meet the needs of diverse learners. Our goals moving forward are to revamp our curriculum to focus on IPA assessments and culturally-based units. We plan to move our grade books and assessments to Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational modes of communication, as reflected by the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards. While we are doing that currently to some extent, we know that the next level is to focus on cultural themes by providing vocabulary and structures as needed to complete communicative tasks.

All three of us are proud to be French teachers. We hope to continue providing our students the opportunities to discover other cultures as they learn about themselves and their place in our connected world. Recognition by AATF has been a significant honor, one that we have fully publicized to our school and community so that all are aware of the strength of our program and the strength of the students with whom we have the pleasure to work each day.

Bonjour! My name is Heather Tedder, and I am the French teacher at Watauga High School. Boone, NC. I have had a tremendously good time crafting the French program at Watauga over the past 11 years! I came to Watauga via Louisiana State University, where I did a year of PhD coursework and previously Vanderbilt University for my Master’s in French. After Katrina blew through southeastern Louisiana in 2005, my husband and I came home to Wilkesboro, NC!

When I came to Watauga in 2007, there were only three levels of French, no Société Honoraire Française, or participation in the Grand Concours. My focus was on adding more levels and activities, student travel, and possibly a partnership with another school. At this point, I have added French 4 Honors and AP French Language and Culture, and we have done two trips to Québec (2014) and France and Spain (2016). Here are some pictures from those two trips!

Last year, we added the Société Honoraire de Français and did the Grand Concours for the first time in 7 years. We have a score release party and induction ceremony coming up at the end of May! It is a fun way to close out the school year and celebrate new SHF members and add some excitement to the Grand Concours score release.

Here is last year’s picture with inductees :

I feel so fortunate to have had so many wonderful students and such supportive colleagues, administrators and parents along the way! During my time at Watauga, three students have been invited to attend the North Carolina Governor’s School in French, and two students have chosen to study abroad in France; one during her junior year of high school, the other the summer before her junior year. Countless students have continued French language and culture classes at the college level, and one student completed AP French Language and Culture her junior year and studied French conversation and French literature as a senior at our local university, Appalachian State. As I write these words, an alumna of the French program is preparing to fly to Nice, where she will spend four weeks in an immersion setting before taking off for an international business internship in Bruxelles and Paris. I am so proud of my students!

My approach to language acquisition is very hands-on and content-driven. I strive to teach at least 90% in French. Many of my students have said in the past that they did not realize I had a Southern accent in English until mid-way through September! With my Spanish colleagues, we have streamlined our curriculum across the first two levels with common learning targets. We grade according to the modes of communication and use IPAs to assess student growth. I incorporate a variety of activities and units that target different ideas and Francophone cultures. Every week, we analyze a song across the levels. Students LOVE this! We actually just did Manie Musicale with brackets and voted “Papaoutai” de Stromae the winner of Manie Musicale 2018. We read three books during the three more advanced levels of French- Paul a un travail d’été de Michel Rabagliati, Aya de Yopougon de Marguerite Abouet, and the grand classique, Le petit princed’Antoine de St. Exupéry. Every level watches at least two movies and discusses them in French (gotta put my film minor from NC State to work!), but one of the biggest draws for the program is the food!

Cuisine fits seamlessly into the curriculum- when we study café culture, French 1 makes crêpes. When we talk about regional French cuisine, French 2 reads instructions in French and puts together a dégustation de fromage. Paired with our study of Francophone communities in the United States, French 3 Honors does a Cajun/ Créole / Franco-American potluck complete with cooking videos. French 4 Honors does two- a cake competition for Louis XIV’s court, as well as a dégustation de chocolat to go with our reading of Aya de Yopougon. Finally AP French Language and Culture tastes water to go with our Science and Technologie unit, and students do a Chopped-style cooking project at the holidays. This year, the mystery ingredient was ginger!

I love teaching French because there is so much to learn and so many different ways to engage students! As a Future Leader this summer, I look forward to bringing home many ideas from Martinique. I am truly humbled and delighted to have been recognized as an Exemplary French Program!

If you take a look at a map of Wisconsin, the city of Wausau is located almost in the middle of the state. It has a population of approximately 40,000 people and about 135,000 including the surrounding metro area. There are two high schools, Wausau West and Wausau East. There are two middle schools and thirteen elementary schools and 4 charter schools. Wausau’s history is connected to Native American cultures, German immigration in the mid-
19th century, and more recently the Hmong refugee relocation program. About 45% of the students in the district are on free or reduced lunch. I started my career teaching French at John Muir Middle School in 1994. The class at the middle school was a trimester class and I developed all of the curriculum myself. When a position at Wausau West High School opened due to a retirement, I decided to interview for the position and got the job. Since that time I have seen a reduction in 4 full time foreign language teacher positions, but this has not stopped me from creating a French program worthy of this award.

The French program at Wausau West offers French levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and AP. The middle schools used to have French, German and Spanish as a requirement, but two years ago the district decided to offer the three languages as an elective modifying the schedule from more of a middle school concept to a junior high concept. Since this change the French numbers have remained steady, but it has caused French 1 numbers at the high school to decrease due to the fact that most students will take French 1 in eighth grade and then take French 2 at the high school, causing the district to typically cut the French 1 class at Wausau West. Many French teachers I think can relate to this struggle as districts continue to cut classes or combine classes to justify staffing.

These problems are real and many, but this did not stop me from digging my heals in even deeper to build the French program at Wausau West. Since teaching at the high school I offer a France trip every year. I traveled to France for the first time when I was a junior in high school and it it changed my life forever. I thought that offering this cultural experience to all my students was important since it played such a major importance in my own life. I have always been a nerd when it comes to French pronunciation, so having my students participate in le Concours Oral has been an importance not only for the students who compete, but also for the students who help me run the Region 2 competition. Seeing my students involvement outside the school day is so important for building relationships and French related experiences. This is the same for when I added the participation with le Grand Concours.

The French Club at West is very active and visits a minimum of 3 elementary schools per year to promote the French language and francophone cultures. I have Spanish students join French Club because of the interactive activities it offers. Once again, actively engaging all students outside the classroom with activities like movie nights and fondue feasts keep many students coming back for more. During National French Week my students sell Bon bons, have trivia contests and scavenger hunts that involve the whole school. The West French Club also has a booth at the Portage County Cultural Festival in Steven’s Point where my students answer questions and pass out information about francophone cultures. It is a very rewarding experience. Most recently I inducted 4 students into la Société Honoraire de Français and I only anticipate with more involvement these numbers will increase.

Since the introduction of the Wisconsin GEAC (Global Education Achievement Certificate) I was actively involved with Wausau West’s application and approval. So far I have awarded 3 French students this prestigious award and proud to say that they have gone on use their French in different ways. In the future I hope to offer the Seal of Biliteracy and the doors it can open for my students beyond high school.

This year the AP French class was granted dual credit with the University of Wisconsin Green Bay with the AP French curriculum standards. I know that this helped some of my students decide to continue with their French studies and I am looking forward to offering this option for my students for years to come.

I have always been one to strive for more and this shows when it comes to involvement with organizations like ACTFL, WAFLT and AATF. Being a part of group of professionals has helped me advance and have a successful program. Being asked to serve as President-Elect Wisconsin chapter helps me create a network of people who support you and the teaching of French which is so important to remaining current with teaching practices of today’s language learner.
In the end, like many French teachers, I have faced many obstacles with the French program in the Wausau School District. It all comes down to commitment to your students and the hard work you put into each and every activity and lesson that will make a difference in the lives of every student that you teach. I plan on continuing to grow the French program at Wausau West by offering new opportunities for my students to enrich their global views and perspectives in a world that still needs cultural competence in tomorrow’s workforce.

The French program at Lakeridge Junior High has existed since the opening of the school in 1976. The program has seen a lot of changes since then. I took over in 2003, with only five small French sections. The French numbers have continuously risen every year. 2015 was the first year that a second French teacher was hired, and enrollments have doubled.

Students at Lakeridge Junior High can begin French 1 as 7th graders, and then continue on to French 2 and French 3. Our students then continue on to one of two high schools, Mountain View and Orem High School, both of which have great French programs. In these schools, they can continue with French 4 and A.P. French. Many of my students will take the A.P. exam in 10th grade during French 4, but others will wait and do the test in 11th grade. Concurrent Enrollment is also available in French at the high school.

Since its inception, my vision of the French program here at Lakeridge has been to take English speakers and teach them to understand, appreciate, love, and live à la française. I have emphasized the importance of gaining high levels of proficiency and adopting new perspectives on other cultures. We incorporate cultural aspects of the entire French-speaking world, not just mainland France. Students embrace culture, consider others’ viewpoints, and adopt new ways of thinking. My vision includes a hands-on approach, where students play with language, live language, and participate in real-life learning.

My approach is very systematic. I have worked with my Spanish colleagues to develop a common pacing guide, common assessments, and common standards, which align with our state core and ACTFL’s national standards. We have always emphasized speaking, culture, and having wonderful memories and experiences that allow students to love the language.

Our school was a blue ribbon school, and has been awarded Best of State four years in a row. We believe our mission, vision, and values, which focus on developing strong professional learning communities, has been a great asset to helping us succeed at developing strong language learners. We have a ton of love, support, and respect from our community. They have supported us through their participation in our various activities, to awarding us with money to make our dreams a reality. There is a real sense of community here at Lakeridge and in Orem, and this has been a wonderful benefit to the French program. I have been able to teach many generations of families, all of whom loved Lakeridge and loved French.

Lexington Public Schools, Lexington MA
AATF member: Christine Goulet

Serving the Parker High School has been a lot of work, but an honor! This is the second time that our program has been recognized as an Exemplary French Program with Distinction!

This is my tenth year with the district and I see many challenges and changes. Our Spanish program is holding its own, our Chinese program increases every year, and French grew for next year! We have managed to maintain one full-time teacher and one part-time teachers who works at both high schools in town. This has done wonders for both programs, since collaboration is a necessity!

Parker French has a lot going on. We added AP French Language and Culture three years ago and though the French 5 and AP classes are combined, numbers are there and a fair amount of students take the exam each year. We have a strong French Club and SHF. The members plan events for the entire school, usually with a focus on food. This year we brought back the French Lock-In and we even collaborated with other clubs! Each year we participate in the Grand Concours and we are lucky to have the Concours Oral in the state of Wisconsin. (All of our participants who went to regionals qualified for state this year!) Students from Parker travel every other year and this year 6 students will be going to France and spending a week with host families in Caen, France.

Our focus on Global Competency has increased interest in languages and hopefully will prove useful in maintaining and increasing enrollment. In the future, as we add Academic and Career Planning to our curriculum, it is our hope to see languages and global education play a large role in students’ lives.

What Did We Implement to Increase Enrollment?

Proficiency-Based Instruction: In the last several years I have moved beyond the vocabulary sheets and verb conjugation and concentrated more on my students speaking the language. Students have been very receptive to this approach and I’m find that they are growing in their language use and cultural knowledge. I have student perform self-assessments. in addition to their performance assessments, throughout the year to assess where they believe they are on the ACTFL Proficiency Levels and I’ve been seeing a lot of growth! Additionally, our district is going toward this model for all languages at all levels. It’s a lot of work, but in the end it will benefit all Janesville students!

Club Activities: This year the French Club and SHF have offered at least one activity a month. However, we teamed up with Parker’s Culture Club for a Mardi Gras party where students watched The Princess and the Frog in French, and I made beignets for the group. We found that after doing this students who are not in a French class came to more French Club activities. Some of them signed up for French next year too!

BreakOut Edu Activities: So far, at my school, I’m the only one doing BreakOut Edu activities and my students love them. They like the mystery and problem-solving behind them. To get more students involved in this sort of activity, this year for National Foreign Language Week I put together a giant BreakOut activity for all World Language classes at Parker. Classes competed against other classes. Sadly, not a single class broke into the box containing the prize, but the students had a blast. When I’m out in public many of the students from other classes say “bonjour” to me; it’s very cute. I know that the BreakOut are keeping students in my program!

Global Education Achievement Certificate (GEAC): Parker High School was approved by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction for the GEAC last year and this year we have our first student graduating with the distinction– and she’s a French student! The students are required to take four years of a world language at the high school level, complete several credits of globally focused classes, read books and watch films, write reflections, and complete 20 hours of a service learning project. It takes a lot of dedication and students are very interested in the GEAC. I think that over time it will help keep our program strong and encourage proficiency in French!

Jon Shee, Adja Dramé, Susan Sarrazin, Evan Downey, Beth Yavenditti, Amber Berry

Please see our Media Gallery for photos and video clips of our work.

St. Luke’s is a private country day school in New Canaan, CT that has no religious affiliation. St. Luke’s has 549 students in grades 5-12. As we are a small school, it is a wonderful thing that there are 3 full-time plus 2 part-time French teachers. Please consider visiting our school website at www.stlukesct.org. Our 201 French students represent 39% of ALL students grades 6-12.* Other languages offered are Spanish, Latin, Mandarin (grades 9-12) and Ancient Greek (every other year). *Our 37 5th graders only have Latin as an option.

At St. Luke’s School, all teachers have a commitment to a full-immersion, French-only environment, from the Middle School through to the Upper School. Students ask their questions in French, and English is not permitted in our classes. Our teacher-to-student ratio is excellent, with about one teacher for every 9 students on average for each section. All St. Luke’s French teachers engage in at least two professional conferences/events per year, and most attend and/or even organize many more Three of the St. Luke’s French teachers (Jon Shee, Amber Berry, and Evan Downey) are active Executive Board members of the AATF Connecticut. Jon Shee serves as Président, Evan Downey is Trésorier, and Amber Berry is the Directrice du Grand Concours. All three help organize many statewide AATF events each year.

Fortunately for our French program, we have always had plenty of resources at our disposal. Our budget has exceeded our demands every year. Technology items are always provided by the school without any difficulty and we can update textbook series whenever we like. The school administration is highly supportive of the French program, as are the parents and the students. See our program schematic below:

REGULAR ACCELERATED/HONORS/AP

Given the fact that we are a smaller school, we are proud to be able to offer such a wide range of options with

15 separate sections of French (Note: This year, we even have two sections of 7th grade regular.).

St. Luke’s Students in Montmartre, June 2016

We are quite proud of the results for our top-level programs, as reflected by excellent AP scores and SAT 2 scores, as well as by students’ comfort with speaking only in the target language at all times and their regular willingness to take risks with the language. Last year, at the first annual Olympics of World Languages at Southern CT State University, the St. Luke’s’s French team earned First Place, so we were very proud of our students for their success. See image below.

St. Luke’s French Team wins First Place at Olympics of World Languages

In addition to Le Grand Concours, we present the AATF Outstanding Senior in French award each year and we also send a nominee for the Connecticut-based “AATF Senior Prize.” In 2016, the candidate from St. Luke’s won the CT AATF Senior Prize, so we were thrilled. Our French students participate in the Connecticut-based COLT Poetry Competition as well. Beyond seeing our students’ results through simple test and contest scores, we have excellent success in terms of our alumni continuing on with French after graduation, either at college or at work.

St. Luke’s is an innovator in terms of blended learning in World Languages, and now all level 1 language classes (French, Spanish, Latin, and Mandarin) are offered as blended courses, and it all started with our French 1 program.

Our teachers follow a highly student-centered model of teaching in which students can speak French as much as possible. For six years now, regular one-on-one videoconferencing sessions with students abroad are part of many courses’ curricula, and provide students with the ultimate authentic experience in which to communicate with peers in the target language.

French students videoconferencing one-on-one in our language lab.

Our Upper School has a long-standing partnership with a private school in Paris, St. Michel de Picpus, and this year marked the 10th anniversary of our relationship. Every other year, we do a full exchange program with St. Michel de Picpus in which their students come to our campus for 2 weeks and then ours go to Paris in June for 2 weeks. Our Middle School program offers a bi-annual trip to Québec that is incredibly popular.

St. Luke’s students in Monaco last June, as part of our decade-old partnership French exchange program.

St. Luke’s Students working with visiting French students from St. Michel de Picpus on a game of Kahoot!

French 5 students lively debating the concept of “Mai 1968: Révolution ou Rêve?”

A major language-based celebration at our school is called World Language Week. Though our students also get quite involved in National French Week activities (like this year, when we brought 200 students to the official AATF CT National French Week event concert by French-Togolese performer Brice Kapel) the French program puts a huge amount of effort into our involvement in World Language Week, as well. Please see our Media Gallery for images and videos of National French Week activities.

A 400-person Lip Dub video during World Language Week, led by the French teachers. See Media Gallery for the full video.

Guest speaker and author of French texbook series “Ensemble” M. Normand Lamoureux teaches French students.

This is a yearly tradition at St. Luke’s.

Every week, students present a “World Language Dept. Expression of the Week” to the entire student body at an assembly.

In this picture, a French 1 student shares the French translation of “I love you” and has everyone in the audience repeat it after her.

St. Luke’s School main entrance

Although a French program has been present at Chapel Hill High School since the school’s origins fifty years ago—CHHS possesses one of the earliest charters of la Société Honoraire de Français—it experienced revitalization in recent years. As a high school French program, they must strive to meet the needs of students with a variety of prior French experience: students have options to study French throughout elementary and middle school. Chapel Hill High School must then prepare its students for collegiate classes, from which many chose to study abroad in Francophone countries such as Rwanda, Belgium, France, and Morocco. This year, ten french students have won scholarships to go abroad and study using their knowledge of French. This year, students participated in a research symposium at Duke University and won 1st place in the Middle East/North Africa category and overall research paper category. Graduates plan to continue using French in their careers in International Business, Public Health and Education. The French program does not merely meet these tasks but exceeds them.

Chapel Hill High School offers French 1, 2, 3, 4, AP, and 5, with many quantifiable accounts of success throughout all levels. There is complete participation in the National French Contest, with many students earning recognition from both the state and national AATF. Students who excel in their French classes are invited to apply to the French National Honor Society, and the many honorees are inducted in an annual ceremony that also celebrates French culture and academic excellence. At the AP Level, 100% of students pass, with the average score over a 4.

Furthermore, students frequently take initiative to study French culture through the thriving, student-run French Club and French National Honor Society. The two clubs work together to spread French culture throughout the school. In the past, these activities have taken the form of a French cheese tasting, a “No-English” school dance, a monthly «Café Français», and an International Night produced with the help of other diverse student associations at the school.

The French program also prides itself on its focus on the incorporation of French into different aspects of everyday life. Students in upper-level courses create personalized Web sites that they use as digital portfolios to document their learning and growth. This allows them to practice technological skills while learning new aspects of French. French teachers have implemented Understanding by Design Units to promote the acquisition of new performance tasks. Both Mme Campbell and M. Fields are highly skilled professionals, Mme Campbell holds a master’s degree from Middlebury College. CHHS’ French program prides itself in giving back to the community. The French Club has made it an annual tradition to run a school-wide canned food drive, which serves students and families in the community. Members of both clubs volunteer to raise foods for members of the school to be able to eat during Winter Break.

The Kettering Fairmont High School French Program has again received the designation EXEMPLARY WITH HONORS from the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). There are only a handful of schools in the United States to hold this title.

The French program at FHS has enjoyed great growth and success in the past several years, increasing enrollment by a substantial 38 percent since 2014. All students take the Grand Concours National French Test. The program has recently begun to accept eighth graders, and offers a new Honors II and Honors III program as well as International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement Honors IV and Credit Flex Honors V; the latter two courses offer college credit for advanced coursework. Because of their strong background in French, many FHS graduates go on to major and minor in French studies at their chosen universities while others test out of their college language requirements completely.

Over 100 FHS students have participated in the French travel program in the past several years and we recently introduced the Sister City Program for home-stay summer exchange. These programs enhance and augment students’ French language skills, international-mindedness and global understanding that is promoted in the classroom. Other notable student accomplishments include participation in AATF National French Week and the National French essay contest, winners in the National French Poetry Contest and $1000 travel scholarship program. Each year about two dozen members are tapped for induction into the Société d’Honneur Français/ French National Honor Society. Throughout the school year, students enjoy immersion experiences and visits from French and Francophone visitors to the classroom.

Fairmont’s vibrant French Club has 100 members and holds many events of Francophone culture including visits to regional museums, our annual Cheese-Tastings and Mardi Gras celebrations. Students make traditional macarons and celebrate with fondue, crèpes, mousse and more. They maintain a plot in the Peace Garden, growing Herbes de Provence.

A sporty addition to our activities includes playing the traditional Pétanque ballgame, sets purchased with monies received from a national grant. They donated funds to Syrian Refugees and adopt children at Christmastime. Their successful French beret fundraiser raised monies to help underwrite testing and membership expenses. The senior class humanitarian “Peace Bracelets” project raised $600 for the International Red Cross. This fall, a tree will be planted in memory of a fallen classmate. They hold an annual Cérémonie d’Honneur to honor their many Grand Concours national laureates, SHF inductees and recognize outstanding seniors and international students. Last year, over 250 people attended; this year, there were almost 500 students and parents in attendance. The program included induction of SHF members, talented student musicians, an entertaining interpretation of “Le Corbeau et Le Renard”, acknowledging our international Francophone students, and senior recognition, including presenting the AATF Outstanding Senior Award. Plans for the future include continued outreach to the school community of Francophone speakers.

The FHS French Department staff is comprised of teachers Mary Townsend and Michele McCarty. Mary recently held state office in AATF and was French Affiliate to the Ohio Foreign Language Association and is an ODE Master Teacher. Michele taught at a university before joining FHS faculty. They have both studied abroad and travel extensively. Their partnership, passion for French and dedication to their students’ success has garnered national recognition for excellence in French at Fairmont High School.

The Midlothian High School French Program is renowned in the central VA area for its positive impact on students and the community. From the exchange program to our outreach at the public library, the French program and students are thriving. Moving forward, Mesdames Garrison and Mazzola wish to carry on the tradition of a successful, enriching program.

Our intention is to continue to reach out to our community and continue the “Les Livres pour Haiti” Project, but perhaps extend it to other, lesser known Francophone countries. In hopes of enhancing our ties with the community, our long term plan includes visits from guest speakers in our area. Over the last two years, we have hosted speakers on the following subjects:

• Les Châteaux de la Loire
• Le Tour de France
• La Mode Française (VCU Professor)
• Le Petit Prince et Antoine de St. Exupéry
• Babar and Madeline
• French Military
• La Suisse
• Haiti
• Le Foot
• Bakery – visit to make baguettes
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts – Impressionism

Further, despite the additional work required to plan and take field trips, we will focus on local excursions for our students, including exploring more local art museums, bakeries, and theaters. Through these out of the classroom experiences, the French Program will continue its growth and progress.

In future years, our participation in the local Congrès will continue and Midlothian will remain the school with the largest contingency and most award winners, as we are presently. Our goal is to improve scores on the Grand Concours, by posting practice tests online and having SHF students review with students prior to testing.

Currently, Midlothian is one of two schools in Chesterfield County with two full time French teachers. This is in part due to the strong reputation and formidable ties the program has to the community. It is also attributed to the wide variety of choices students have once enrolled in the program. Possible courses are an Honors/non-Honors track, French culture and cinema, AP French, IB French. Our plan is to maintain these choices to offer students the course that most applies to their interest. One possible consideration in future years, is offering French Literature where students would study poetry and various French novels.

Continuation of the French Exchange Program will continue as well as the continued offering of “EPals” for students who have interest in correspondence with a French student but choose not to travel. As our colleague Spanish teachers have expressed interest in working together on a trip, we will explore this opportunity for a trip to both a French and Spanish speaking country. This would be a viable option for students who wish to travel but whose parents are not comfortable with children staying with a family in the home.

Our classes are student-centered and promote la Francophonie so as to provide multiple perspectives and celebrate the diversity inherent to French studies. We want to develop students’ language proficiency while helping them develop cultural knowledge. At the same time, it is important for students to see the relevancy of learning and using multiple languages here and now, which is why we try to develop local partnerships. For more details on course descriptions and sample lessons, visit http://people.uwec.edu/MILLERJS/

Graduates of the UW-Eau Claire French program who today work in fields as varied as sales, translation, and education, credit their professors and their college experiences for their success. Andrew Karsten, now pursuing a Master’s in Linguistics at Indiana University, is “immensely grateful for the hard-work, thoughtful planning, and dedication to students that [he has] seen consistently demonstrated by all the professors in the Department.” Kayla Noel further explains: “My degree in French has allowed me to be a part of the translation industry and use my foreign language skills in a rewarding career. I look back on my language learning journey and see how far I’ve come. It takes a program that offers more than just grammar lessons but real-world applications and discussions as well as opportunities to get involved and I feel strongly that the French program at UWEC doesn’t fall short in offering these key elements and is an outstanding French program.” Erin Hasenfang continues: “My experiences in the French courses made me look at a language degree in a different light. UWEC helped me realize that with a French degree […] the opportunities were as limitless as the culture itself. […] One of the main reasons I got a job in sales after graduation was because of my ability to speak French.”

Dr. Carter Smith, Chair of the Department of Languages, describes the French section as an important part of the Department, noting its positive contributions to quality curricula, high-impact practices, and collaborations across disciplines and K-16, both in and outside of the university: “the French section of the Department of Languages is a vital component of our mission to promote multilingualism and intercultural understanding.”

Some experiences that set the UW-Eau Claire French program apart are study-abroad and intercultural domestic immersion opportunities, field trips to local elementary schools to teach French, community partnerships for service-learning options, and a focus on developing proficiency through Francophone culture thanks to professors with a wide range of expertise.inside-content

Valparaiso University French Program

April 2017

Valpo’s French program offers its students courses and activities that develop their language skills, their ability to analyze both literature and culture, and their awareness of how they can incorporate French into a fulfilling career. We see our French program as a community of students and faculty. Although we have faced enrollment challenges over the past eight to ten years, we have responded by focusing the program and working deliberately to help our students feel that they are part of a supportive yet challenging community. We believe that a result is our rebounding enrollments and the energy and enthusiasm of our students who move to a variety of careers and graduate programs.

We have developed and adapted our curriculum so that it builds consciously from one level to the next in all areas, not just language, and so that it integrates the traditional study of literature with culture. Our curriculum thus offers multiple opportunities for students to hone language skills and develop analytic skills. Committed to creative pedagogy, we have thoughtfully incorporated innovative teaching techniques. For instance, we have implemented “flipped classroom” techniques where appropriate, using FlipGrid and SmartPen technologies among others. We connect our students via Skype and letter exchanges with classes in France and Senegal. And we regularly incorporate undergraduate research opportunities including most recently a digital humanities project studying a Renaissance cookbook that was featured in a national newsletter.

Nearly all of our French majors are also majoring in another field, and we have deliberately developed options for various student academic interests. We offer the Valparaiso International Engineering Program (VIEP) – France, where students major in engineering, take advanced French courses, live in our French House, and spend a year studying at the Université de Technologie de Compiègne and doing a co-operative education work experience in France. Business students may study at our partner Sup de Co school, La Rochelle International School of Business.

The vast majority of our majors, and many minors, choose one of our five study-abroad opportunities in France. Partnership agreements with three French institutions bring exchange students from France to VU each year, and we have created occasions to deliberately integrate those students with our French-student population. Our innovative “conversation partner” program pairs a native speaker of French–often one of our exchange students–with a US student for an hour of informal conversation each week.

On campus, we sponsor a French House residence opportunity (with a native speaker student director). And we offer multiple co-curricular activities, including an orientation to the French major, an opening picnic, film series, crêpe evening, cheese-tasting, “Fête de la musique,” theater festival/poetry recitation event, and so forth. We have also offered many occasions for current students to hear from our alums about their careers, inviting some grads to campus and holding Skype sessions with others. We connect our current students with grads who are pursuing careers with NGOs, corporations, and institutions of higher education. We have had a chapter of the French Honor society Pi Delta Phi since 1981.

Participation in AATF has also been central to our success. Faculty members have provided leadership on the chapter level for many years and have also served at the national level. This contact has stimulated our thinking, provided models and ideas for curricular and co-curricular initiatives, and kept us in touch with the state of the art.

We are thrilled to have received this honor from AATF, and are excited to continue to work closely with our community of students, so that we may provide them with the best possible education and prepare them–as our University’s Mission Statement puts it–to lead and serve in the future.

Exemplary

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Centennial High School is located approximately 50 miles south-east of Los Angeles. It is one of eight high schools in the Corona-Norco Unified School District. It is the only school in the district to offer the International Baccalaureate program of study. With a population of approximately 3,300 students, Centennial is a large and diverse campus with 51% of the students qualifying for free or reduced price lunch. With the majority of the population being Hispanic and with Spanish being the world language of choice, French at Centennial has often taken a back seat to other programs… until now.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

When Kelly Buffington and Dahiana Castro took over the French program in 2013, they had lofty goals that they set out to achieve. The first was to increase enrollment in French classes and ensure that students continued their studies into the upper levels. The second was to establish a presence on campus and in the community so that parents and students understand the benefits of taking French. In order to achieve these results, Ms. Buffington and Ms. Castro first decided to transition away from the traditional textbook method and instead focus on using Comprehensible Input (CI) strategies – a move that has proved to be very successful in the classroom. Next, they reached out to the middle school Spanish classes (French is not offered at the middle schools) to give demo lessons to the students and to dispel any myths that “French is hard”. They also presented at several parent nights to inform parents about the benefits of taking French. As a result of their hard work and effort, enrollment in the program has increased across all levels (from 17 students in AP French in 2013 to 34 in 2017) and a new found interest in French has spread across the campus.

Students at Centennial have the opportunity to start French at level 1 and continue until level 4.While matriculating through the program, students participate in a variety of events throughout the year, the most popular and well-known being the annual Mardi Gras celebration. This exciting event features over the top decorations, lively jazz music, and of course delicious Cajun food that the students prepare themselves. Cries of “Jettez-moi quelque chose Madame!” are interspersed with the lively rhythm of a second line playing in the background as students wait outside of their classroom, waiving their hands, waiting to catch one of the many beads thrown in their direction. Students, staff, and administration all enjoy this fun day that celebrates French and Cajun culture. In their fourth year of studies, AP and IB students hold a mock wedding – a highly anticipated event. After studying family life and customs, students plan and put on a real French wedding. A couple is selected, all the required paperwork is filled out, a budget is created, a venue is chosen, and everyone plays a role leading up to the “big day” where the “mayor” reads from the Code Civile before providing the couple with their Livret de famille. Following the ceremony is a murder mystery type reception where students are given detailed roles and have to try to determine who the two wedding crashers are. This annual activity has garnered so much interest that students in the lower levels start planning their own “wedding” years in advance.

In addition to the many exciting activities that occur in French class, students have the opportunity to practice French outside of the classroom as well. Past excursions have included theater trips to see Tristan et Iseut, Le Malade Imaginaire, as well as French singers. Students also have the opportunity to participate in trips abroad with past trips having been to Paris and Normandy, France and Spain, and France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria. The French club, Allons-y!, in conjunction with La Société Honoraire allow students to join in on crêpe making lessons and a cheese tasting as well as other cultural activities.

French at Centennial has come a long way since the program began in 1989. The staff and students are excited about the future of the language on campus and look forward to even bigger and better things to come in the future!

ABOUT THE TEACHERS

Kelly Buffington teaches levels 2, 3, and AP/IB at Centennial. She holds a M.A. in French and Francophone Studies from California State University, Long Beach, a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, Literacy Studies from University of Texas, Arlington, and a B.A. in French Studies and Psychology from Smith College. In addition, she holds a Diplôme de français professionnel (mention très bien) from the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris. She has presented at the Practical Pedagogies Conference in Toulouse, France as well as at the Annual Meeting of the French Colonial Society. Along with Ms. Castro, Ms. Buffington regularly attends local, regional, and national conferences to remain au courant with the latest trends in education.

Dahiana Castro is a native of the Dominican Republic and teaches level 1 French as well as level 2 Spanish at Centennial High School. She holds a M.A. in Multicultural Education from California State University, Dominquez Hills and a B.A. in Foreign Languages from the Universidad de Puerto Rico. Ms. Castro holds a Single Subject Teaching Credential in California. She regularly attends local, regional, and national conferences to stay abreast of the latest teaching methodologies. She is known in the Southern California region for her expertise in CI teaching methods and has presented at local conferences.

Video presentation of Waring School

Here is the preview for La Cantatrice chauve

At Waring School, French is more than an academic subject. The language is real, alive, and very present in our school since its foundation in 1972 by Franco-American couple, Philip and Josée Waring. Our approach is unique in that all our classes, from beginners through advanced, are conducted entirely in French by native or near-native speakers. Students can spend up to seven years studying the language, traveling to French speaking countries, thus becoming nearly fluent by the end of their Waring career. French classes are small and grouped by level and not by age.

Our program, started in its present form in the 1990s, begins with partial immersion in 6th and 7th grades. At that level, the focus is on developing quick comprehension and acquiring authentic French pronunciation. Early on, our students are comfortable improvising basic conversations naturally. In a typical class, meeting four times a week, you can see older and younger students gossiping in French, singing pop songs, watching excerpts of the news, playing games or roles or discussing French literature in depth. Every year, our Waring students rank at the top on the national French contest, Le grand concours . Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors excel on the SATII French test and French AP exam. When and if students reach a very sophisticated command of the language, before their Senior year, they often choose to continue to study French enrolling in a post AP course when we offer such a challenge. Only at Waring can the most competent Juniors and Seniors choose to be French TA’s in various classes when possible.

In 9th grade, students participate in a four-week exchange program in Angers, France. Every February, all students participate in a French poetry recitation contest judged by members of the French Consulate and teachers from the North Shore area. Under the guidance of their teachers, each class prepares original skits that they present to all-school meeting in French, thus challenging the performers as well as the audience.

Travel is very much part of the Waring experience, to the province of Québec, to Angers, Paris, and also Provence because we want students to be curious about the Francophone worlds. Waring often inspires graduates to pursue language studies abroad in college and beyond while fostering global awareness.

Here are examples of the unique features our program offers:

1. An immersion program for Core (6th and 7th grades), with an annual trip to Montréal, in addition to French classes
2. A three-week long exchange program for group 2 students (9th grade) with Lycée David d’Angers in Angers, France.
3. For all students, annual mandatory participation in Le Grand Concours
4. Annual participation in the French poetry contest for all students
5. Endterm for 6th through 9th grades to Québec.
6. Student travel to France and some European countries for Juniors (11th grade)
7. French TAs (Juniors and Seniors)
8. Waring French address at the Commencement Ceremony (12th grade)

The Waring French address is given by one, occasionally two students, who have reached a strong command of French, at the commencement ceremony to graduating students, their family and guests, and the entire school community. All throughout their career at Waring these learners have excelled in both spoken and written French and it is an honor to be selected to be such a speaker.

A Thriving Program with Active Faculty and Students:

During a time when foreign-language programs are seeing cuts across the board at many universities, Elon University’s French program is growing and thriving. Our faculty are active teacher-scholar-mentors, with research agendas in various disciplines of French and Francophone studies and in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning related to second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy. They regularly present at national and international conferences and have been recognized on campus for their teaching excellence. With an active French Club, a chapter of Pi Delta Phi, and a strong presence in the Polyglot Floor living learning community, French is a visible and vibrant part of the university community. Recent graduates have been accepted to or completed graduate work at Florida State University, Vanderbilt University, Sciences Po, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Maryland. During their studies at Elon, many students present their undergraduate research on campus at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum, the Undergraduate Conference on Languages and Cultures at Elon University, and several have presented or will present off campus in venues as prestigious as the National Conferences for Undergraduate Research, the 20th Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, and the American Council for Quebec Studies Biennial Conference. Many of our graduates obtain positions via the TAPIF, where they continue to improve their French while teaching English in France. Others use their French in the realms of international business and international relations.

Creative and Rigorous Curriculum

Elon’s French curriculum offers a wide variety of creative courses with a small number of faculty. Our departmental learning outcomes are designed to help us avoid the problematic dichotomy that has traditionally existed (and has been widely commented since the 2007 MLA report) between “language” and “content” courses. We use a student-centered approach to language learning that combines the best of the communicative language classroom with literacy-based approaches and affords students opportunities to engage with cultural questions more deeply, even as beginners in the language. We prepare students to be advanced speakers, listeners, writers and readers of the French language via a highly scaffolded series of engaging courses.

Two examples of our most innovative and interdisciplinary courses encourage students to use their French creatively outside of the traditional classroom setting: FRE 349-French Theater in Production (which was first offered in January 2012) and FRE 378-French Cultural Shifts Through Music (offered for the first time in Spring 2016). During the January term, FRE 349 students engage in a full-length production of a French play that is presented to a public audience at the end of the month with projected English subtitles. Molière, Ionesco, and Beckett have all been part of the repertoire. A short film about the first iteration of the course can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJTWn8ve4vE.The entire performance of Ionesco’s Scène à quatre can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpYxDaOlrEw. FRE 348 offers students the opportunity to compose and perform their own texts in French around a chosen theme. In Spring 2016, after spending an entire semester examining and researching the widespread implications of the May ’68 cultural revolution, students wrote and performed their own multimedia show related to those events (in collaboration with students and faculty in the Department of Music). Highlights and pictures from the program can be found on the student-created Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/liberteegalitesexualite/

As a culmination of the creative and rigorous work they have undertaken in all of their courses at Elon, senior French majors complete an independent research project in their Capstone Seminar during the fall of their final year of study. The Capstone is designed according to an apprenticeship model, where the teaching faculty member makes the messy process of research visible to novice scholars by walking them through the steps that an expert takes when s/he is working on a new research project. They are guided through the development of a research question, detailed textual analysis, engagement with the current scholarship related to the question, and the writing of a conference-length paper and research presentation. Via this process, students learn to approach their research in the ways that experts do.

For more information on our courses offerings and course descriptions, see Elon’s SMART catalog.

Dedication to Study Abroad

All French majors are required to study abroad for a semester, and French minors are strongly encouraged to do so. Incoming students will have the benefit of taking a newly developed course: Preparing for and Processing the Study Abroad Experience. With a cohort of students who will all study abroad in the same semester, students will follow a 4-credit hour sequence (1 sh. before departure; 1 sh. while abroad; 2 sh. upon return) taught in English by a faculty member from the Department of World Languages and Cultures. By preparing a cohort of students in advance for their study abroad experience, mentoring them via online discussion forums while they are abroad, and debriefing their experiences with them upon their return, this course provides a meaningful space in which students can process their time abroad. It will help students minimize the reverse culture shock that many feel upon their return to campus while maximizing the integration of their time abroad with the rest of their undergraduate experience.

Elon students can study abroad in a variety of programs that offer coursework in French and/or opportunities to use French on a daily basis: three semester or year programs in France, two in Senegal, one in Morocco, and one in Rwanda. We also offer a two-year Dual Degree program in International Business with the NEOMA School of Management in Reims, France. Students who graduate from this program earn Bachelor’s degrees from both institutions. French faculty co-teach the Winter Term GBL 267: Sacred Space and the Place of Religion in 21st-Century France with a colleague from the Department of Religious Studies, and students enrolled in Intermediate French II in the spring semester will have ten days of embedded study abroad in Montreal and Quebec City during Spring Break.

The best place to see the activities and passions of Elon University’s French program is the Facebook page: All Things French at Elon University. “Like” us and you can follow our progress!

Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, IL
AATF member: Kelleye Guzik

Glenbrook North High school is located in Northbrook, Illinois and is approximately 25 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. At Glenbrook North High School, we are extremely proud of the work our French program has accomplished. We have created new curriculum for all five levels of French, implementing best practices and engaging our students. We have immersed our students in French and Francophone culture. We have also advocated for our programs in middle and elementary schools, and we have seen growth in our own enrollment. We pride ourselves in giving our students the best possible language experience.

During the 2015-2016 school year, all three of the French teachers collaborated to revise our curriculum to reflect best practices. The focus for our classes is communication. We encourage students to concentrate on understanding and communicating a message. Our goal is that students leave the classroom everyday with confidence in their ability to communicate in French. To support this, we transitioned from using a textbook to employing thematic units derived from the AP thematic units. The units are tied to essential questions and can-do statements. Before the unit begins, we present the can-do statements and final assessments to help guide students in their studies. We also align specific lessons to can-do statements to remind students of their progress. Finally, we ask students to reflect on their ability to complete the can-do statements at the end of the unit, which permits us as teachers to reflect on our own lessons.

One of the many results we have seen with this curricular change is a higher level of student engagement. By using authentic resources, such as articles or instructional videos from a specific country, students are generally more interested in improving their linguistic skills. We are teaching them to survive in the target culture by providing materials that they would actually see in an international setting. In addition, we found that creating interactive notebooks helped students concentrate and stay in target language for extended periods of time. They are in control of their own “individualized textbooks,” which permits students to personalize the class to their own interests. Essentially, they are creating a portfolio of things they can do with the language that they can brag about to their parents or friends. We have had a lot of success with these notebooks, and the feedback from parents and students alike is overwhelmingly positive.

Another way we engage our students at GBN is by immersing them in French and Francophone culture. We practice 90% target language usage in all our classes, and we strive for our students to reach this goal, as well. In the past, we have had competitions to inspire students to speak more minutes in French. We provide common classroom expressions to students so that they do not break into English, and they are constantly praised for appropriately utilizing these expressions. Total immersion in our classrooms has strengthened our program and united all of our classes with this common requirement.

While total immersion has greatly aided our pursuit of student engagement, immersing students in cultural activities and celebrations has had an enormous boost of morale and energy. We have made an effort to include cultural comparisons into every day of our lessons. This past year, we planned various cultural celebrations to unite and advertise our program. For example, we planned a Mardi Gras celebration with five different activities in which all classes participated. At each station, students engaged in various cultural activities, such as trying jambalaya and king cake. We also have smaller celebrations, like writing Valentine’s to a local nursing home in French and English or telling jokes for Poisson d’Avril. These activities are fun for students and teachers, and we love planning them to get students excited about continuing their French studies.

After developing all of these aspects of our classes, we knew that we needed to effectively advertise our program. Our French teachers participated in middle school French program activities when invited, such as a French Cultural Fair. We took students on a field trip to their former middle school in order to discuss the benefits of continuing French, and the students loved sharing their personal experiences. We spoke in an elementary school and middle school to promote classes at the high school and middle school levels. We are active in the Northbrook community, as well. Our students prepared a presentation for the Village of Northbrook’s Celebration of Cultures event, where local groups shared various elements of their culture.

As teachers, we regularly engage in many different professional development opportunities, such as Oral Proficiency Interview training, the Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages conferences, Training for the Assessment of Language Learning in Illinois, and the American Association of the Teachers of French (AATF) meetings. Two of our teachers have served on the Executive Council for the Chicago/Northern Illinois chapter of AATF. One of our teachers is an ACTFL OPI Rater and Tester. We aim to be leaders in our field, and we appreciate all opportunities to improve our craft and to assist other French teachers to do the same.

We have worked extremely hard at creating a fun and interactive environment for our students at Glenbrook North High School. We are proud of the goals we have achieved, and we look forward to achieving new goals in the future to push our students to a lifelong love of language learning.

Lyons Township High School has two campuses located in the Chicago suburbs; freshmen and sophomores attend South Campus in Western Springs, while juniors and seniors attend North Campus in LaGrange. Students come from LaGrange, Western Springs, Burr Ridge, La Grange Park, Countryside, Indian Head Park, Hodgkins, and parts of Brookfield, Willow Springs and McCook.

The French program at Lyons Township High School supports approximately 390 students in ten different course options: French I Prep/Accel, French II Prep/Accel, French III Prep/Accel, French Language Prep/Accel (Level IV), AP French Language, and Advanced French Communication (Level V; seniors only). Our students succeed regularly on the AP exam, with 96-97% of students passing (achieving a score of 3 or greater), continue to take French courses in college or use French in their advanced education and careers, and remain passionate about their time spent at LT.

The four French teachers at LT (Emily Fellmann, Anna Maria Kostecki, Elizabeth Martinez, and Sam Robinson) believe that our students and strong academics make this French program wonderful, and that the myriad of Francophone extracurricular and optional activities keep our students passionate and engaged while encouraging them to become life-long learners of French.

Students participate in at least one, if not all, of the following activities at some point while in the French program at Lyons Township:

French Club (Le Cercle Français – http://www.lths.net/Domain/88) – The French club meets on a bi-weekly basis to discuss, celebrate and plan events related to the French language and French and francophone culture. Traditional yearly events include a field trip to a French restaurant and a fondue restaurant, sharing French traditions for Christmas at the school’s “Holiday Write Night” event, and celebrations for francophone holidays such as Mardi Gras. This year students had a “vous êtes super!” event to celebrate other students before the school day, and went with the school’s photo club to see Agnès Varda speak and view her works at the University of Chicago. We are adding a trip to Québec on years that alternate with our French exchange program; the first one will be summer 2017! (Note: students not enrolled in French also participate in our club).

French Exchange (http://www.lths.net/fex) – Lyons Township High School has been participating in exchanges since 2004 when master teacher Donna Czarnecki initiated the first one with Lyon, France. Since then LTHS has mounted exchanges every other year up to and including the present time.

LT has had a continuous exchange relationship with colleagues and students from Notre-Dame de Sion school in Marseille since 2010. Typically the French come to La Grange for a two week homestay and the Americans for a 10-day homestay, after which they journey to Paris for several more days.

We at LT are fortunate to have complete support on the part of all levels of our school administration. As a happy result, our students reap countless benefits of this life-changing experience. We plan to continue this exchange for the foreseeable future. Vive la France! Vive LTHS!

French Honor Society – Every year Lyons Township inducts approximately 20-40 students into the French Honor Society. We have a special induction ceremony where students are commended, pass the “torch” and recite a message/proverb in French that is important to them. We conclude with the Marseillaise and a celebration with cake and lively discussion with students and parents.

Additionally, students participate in the following outside activities on an individual or class by class basis:

• Cardz for Kidz – Cards are written in French to be given to children in hospitals in Canada and Haiti (http://cardzforkidz.org/participants/)
• Discovery Center Tutoring – Students volunteer to help their peers with French before/after school or during free periods/lunch in our school’s computer labs
• La Journée Intensive en Français Select students are chosen to participate in a full immersion day sponsored by the AATF and held off-campus; students from throughout the Chicagoland area participate
• Le Grand Concours – All students, through the generous support of our school district and administration, take the French National Contest exam across all levels

St. Luke’s School is a private country day school in New Canaan, CT that has no religious affiliation…and never has! St. Luke’s has 549 students in grades 512. Our teacher-to-student ratio is excellent, with about one teacher for every 8 or 9 students on average for each section.

In the 2014-15 school year, 106 middle schoolers and 91 upper schoolers studied French, which is a total of 197 students, or 39% of all students grades 612 who study French! (Note: 5th graders only take Latin)

As we are a small school, it is a wonderful thing that there are 3 full-time plus 2 part-time French teachers. Fortunately for our French program, we have always had plenty of resources at our disposal. Our budget has exceeded our demands every year. Technology items are always provided by the school without any difficulty, and we can update textbook series whenever we like. The school administration is highly supportive of the French program as are the parents and the students. There are three large French classrooms that are dedicated to French learning, and French students also use frequently our state-of-the-art digital language lab.

All teachers have a commitment to full immersion, French only environment, from the middle school through to the upper school. Students ask their questions in French, and English is not permitted in our classes. We are proud of our 100% French only environment. Our school is known in the area as having an innovative, successful French program, and “word gets out” thanks to the many presentations that our French teachers do locally, regionally, and nationally.

A few professional highlights about our French teachers are below:

• All St. Luke’s French teachers are members of the AATF and attend at least one AATF event per year, though most of us attend most or all local AATF events.
• Three of the St. Luke’s French teachers (Jon Shee, Amber Berry, and Evan Downey) are active Executive Board members of the Connecticut AATF Chapter. Jon Shee serves as President and Amber Berry is the Directrice du Grand Concours. Evan Downey helps organize many AATF events each year and is the key organizer of ourRéunion printanière.
• Jon Shee is the Upper School World Languages Department Chair, and Amber Berry is the Middle School World Languages Department Chair. Together, they supervise a total of 11 other teachers.
• Beth Yavenditti is the Director of Global Education at St. Luke’s and organizes our decade-old exchange program with St. Michel de Picpus in Paris, as well as other global programs. She has been teaching French ever since she arrived at St. Luke’s, but this year she is focusing on global-related courses.
• Jon, Amber, and Evan have presented many conferences about French, world language learning, and technology, and Jon and Evan attended the national AATF conference in New Orleans last year.

As part of expansion efforts, over the past two years we have been actively encouraging students to study TWO world languages via media blasts, announcements, and public posters, and currently over 10% of our total student population in grades 7-12 take advantage of this fantastic opportunity. The majority of students taking two world languages have chosen French as one of their two courses.

Middle school students who demonstrate excellence in French have their own special, accelerated courses called French MS1 and French MS2, which are completely separate courses from those of their regular-level counterparts who take courses French A and French B. There is great articulation throughout our entire program, and the French team meets regularly to make sure that goals are met and that students are appropriately challenged while reaching benchmarks of mastery.

Here is the scope of classes that we offer, arranged by the typical paths of regular and accelerated/honors/AP students:

Given the fact that we are a smaller school, we are proud to be able to offer such a wide range of options with 15 separate sections of French (Note: This year, we even have two sections of Honors French 2).

At the top levels our numbers are very strong, considering the many other options that juniors and seniors can choose at our school. Many seniors are drawn to new electives in other subjects, and many of them must take required courses for our specialty diploma programs, so the fact that we still have so many seniors signed up for French (26%) is fantastic.

We are quite proud of the results for our top-level programs, as reflected by excellent AP scores and SAT 2 scores, as well as by students’ comfort with speaking only in the target language at all times and their regular willingness to take risks with the language. The grand majority of our seniors who complete our level 5 or AP classes graduate with at least basic fluency in the language, in that they can express themselves only in French in virtually any real life situation that they encounter. Many graduates exceed basic fluency standards and maintain their French skills over time.

Beyond seeing our students’ results through simple test scores, we have excellent success in terms of our alumni continuing on with French after graduation, either at college or at work. We receive regular emails from alumni saying how they have placed into higher level French classes at college, or how they are the most comfortable of their peers in terms of speaking French in their college classes.

Our teachers follow a highly student-centered model of teaching in which students can speak French as much as possible. We focus on creating the maximum amount of opportunities for small group work and pair work in order to allow students to communicate often (and comfortably) in virtually every lesson.

For four years now, regular one-on-one videoconferencing sessions with students abroad are part of many courses’ curricula, and provide students with the ultimate authentic experience in which to communicate with peers in the target language. Sessions follow a richly structured activity that is planned ahead of time between St. Luke’s teachers and the teachers abroad. Thanks to our videoconferencing work, we have created many long-lasting relationships with schools abroad. One great result was that Delphine Nicolas, a videoconferencing partner and English teacher from the Lycée de la Salle in Rennes, France, spent over a week on our campus last year as a visiting teacher in our French program.

We have given Le Grand Concours every year for at least 15 years. In addition to Le Grand Concours, we present the AATF Outstanding Senior in French Award each year, and we also send a nominee for the Connecticut-based “AATF Senior Prize.” Our French students often participate in the COLT Poetry Competition as well.

Cultural elements and travel are deeply integrated into our curriculum. We offer many real life cultural experiences to our students, such as guest speakers, workshops, French film evenings, French cooking lessons, trips abroad, and much more. Our middle school program offers a biannual trip to Québec that is incredibly popular. Middle school students also have done a full exchange program with a school in Toulouse in which students from France came to St. Luke’s for 2 weeks during the school year, and then our students went to Toulouse to do the same later in the year. Our upper school has a longstanding partnership with a private school in Paris, St. Michel de Picpus, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of our relationship. Every other year, we do a full exchange program with St. Michel de Picpus in which their students come to our campus for 2 weeks and then ours go to Paris in June for 2 weeks. This is an incredibly rich exchange program and it continues to thrive after a decade.

A major languagebased celebration at our school is called World Language Week, and it is a yearly event that usually takes place in late April. Though our students do get involved in National French Week activities (like this year, when we brought 138 students to the official Connecticut AATF Chapter National French Week event called Molière Than Thou), the French program puts a huge amount of effort into our involvement in World Language Week. French students in grades 6-12 engage in many different activities that draw the attention of the entire school. They write and/or recite French poems, they perform French skits, they dance in giant flash mobs to the tune of French pop music, they serve as teachers to their peers at “You-can-learn-French” booths, they help in pastry and cooking demos, they create videos that are shared on our big screens, they do presentations in French in front of the entire school, etc. We also invite to campus members of the Frenchspeaking community for various presentations and class visits during World Language Week.

Please visit our media gallery at: www.tinyurl.com/SLSAATF / http://www.stlukesct.org/

Pictured: Amber Berry, Beth Yavenditti, Jon Shee, Delphine Nicolas (visiting teacher from France), Evan Downey, Susan Sarrazin

Parker High School, Janesville, WI
Exemplary Program with Distinction
AATF member: Andrea Behn

The Janesville Parker French Program is a healthy program, but by no means perfect! When I took the French teacher position 8 years ago, I was nervous. I’d only had middle school experience, and I did not know where to begin. So I jumped in, just like I do with everything! I taught 5 sections and collaborated with the part-time teachers who taught 1-2 sections. The program has grown and by moving to a modified block schedule I know teach 6 section and my colleague teaches 3! I became very involved in the school, chaperoning dances, supervising athletic events, and attending concerts and shows. Students knew about French because I have a presence!

Janesville, Wisconsin has endured a lot the last 8 years. First we saw the closing of the GM plant in town, which affected everyone. Then Wisconsin faced many governmental challenges. Morale was affected and many wonderful teachers left the area, retired, or were laid off due to budget cuts. Additionally, at the beginning of my career at Parker, there were rumors that French, German, or both languages were going to be cut. They felt that neither language was relevant as “World War II languages.” We fought against this mind-set for several years, until in the end, German was cut and the the Chinese program from the elementary schools to the middle and high school levels was expanded.

Despite these challenges, I dug in and made collaboration my priority and learned from others what made their programs successful. I worked with my colleagues in the district, at both the high schools and the middle schools, as well as with other French teachers from around the state. As a professional, I truly believe that when things are going as you’d like, change something.

What Did We Implement to Increase Enrollment?

Super Français Award (inspired by Concordia Language Villages, borrowed from Karen Morgan): To add something positive and provide recognition for students, I began offering the Super Français Award. I selected a Super Espion for the quarter to choose a deserving classmate for being positive, trying new things, being a role model, sharing cultural information, and helping others. The Super Français didn’t need to be the best student in the class, but it did need to be someone who everyone would agree embodies all the good attributes of a French student.

New Courses and New Course Proposals: This year we added AP French and though there were only a few students, the enrollment has doubled for next year! I was approved to teach a dual-credit French course through the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, though we have not been able to run the class. We also proposed two new classes, Francophone Cinema and French Plus (a course to explore French in future careers). We have not been able to run either since moving to the block schedule. I’m hoping this changes in the future as students settle into the new schedule and realize they have many more options.

Cross-Cultural Classroom Connections (through University of Wisconsin-Madison): I’ve connected with a university student who is studying abroad for the year and she writes blogs about her experiences and answers our cultural questions. I’ve also had former students come and talk about their experiences with study abroad. My students love this!

Future Plans: In the last few years we have collaborated more with district schools, created a common curriculum, and worked on common assessments. In the future, we would like to align our curriculum to the AP exam and plan backward.

Hopkins School has had a long history of teaching French since its inception in 1660. Over those many years, French has been steady and favored by many. All French teachers at Hopkins are members of the AATF (with one also serving as a board member of the Connecticut AATF Chapter) and regularly attend local, state or national meetings. All students at Hopkins are expected to take a minimum of three years in one language at the high school level; however, many students take no less than 4, with many continuing to 5 or 6 if they began with French at the 7th grade level. As for enrollment, there are 29 junior school (7th & 8th graders) and a total of 104 students taking French at the high school level (from French 1-7 Honors). A total of 133 students take French out of a school enrollment of 712. Our program is rigorous and meets the students’ abilities, the sequence of courses is as follows: 7th (French A) & 8th (French B) grade–both A & B combined comprise a French 1 level course; French 1 (9th grade); French 2 or 2 Accelerated; French 3 or French 3 Accelerated; French 4 Literature and Cinema or French 4 Language and Civilization; French 5 Culture and Conversation or French 5 French Language & Culture AP. We also offer French 6 Honors and French 7 Honors (subject matter changes from year to year based on need and curriculum).

All courses are taught primarily (90% or more) in French, and adhere to standards-based learning. All levels also include various novels, plays, readers, bandes dessinées, and films. Besides the use of current newspapers, magazines, and novels, higher levels also employ Une Fois Pour Toutes.

Hopkins currently employs 5 French teachers, 3 full-time (all hold a Ph.D.) and 2 part-time. On a daily basis, students work in a variety of learning activities such as debates, group discussion, peer review editing, lab activities, scavenger hunts, museum exploration exercises, review games, etc. Speaking, writing, listening, and reading are incorporated into every class and culture is as equally valued as speaking and grammar skills. Lastly, every year, Hopkins administers the Grand Concours to all of our French students, levels 01-5.

We are very lucky at Hopkins to not only have wonderful teachers and students but wonderful parents as well! They are excited by our rigorous and creative classes, our class trips (to see speakers around Yale, to attend French plays at the Shubert or Yale), and our field trips to Quebec and Paris. Occasionally, we have parents who are French natives. They have visited classes on several occasions to talk about France, their history, or their company. Students and teachers alike enjoy these visits as it is a great opportunity to share and collaborate.

Future goals to expand the program:

1. Provide more planning time for French teachers to discuss scope and sequence.
2. Plan and implement one Francophone trip per school year: alternate Quebec and France, or other French-speaking regions
3. Plan and implement community service opportunities abroad (Spring Break or summer)
4. Create and distribute information about our French program to feeder schools
5. Work closely with College Counseling and Alumni Office to monitor students’ continuation in learning French beyond Hopkins
6. Commit all French teachers to attend a minimum of 3 AATF events a year and one regional/national event
7. Promote our program via articles in the yearbook, school newspaper and school e-bulletin pertaining to French activities, trips and classroom learning.
8. Schedule an annual “retreat” for all French teachers to discuss the current and future progress of the department

Specific Teacher Goals:

1. All French teachers commit to attending no less than three AATF events, and one regional/national event per year
2. At least every other year, all French teachers commit to attending a French program (such as Middlebury, Oxbridge, etc.) to improve their teaching, speaking and writing skills and to collaborate with other French teachers. Two of our teachers work every summer in Paris and should continue to do so.
3. Attend informational sessions at Hopkins and during presentations at feeder schools to promote French language
4. Schedule bi-monthly or more informal meetings to discuss ideas (how to increase French enrollment, plan for speakers, plan for field trips, trips abroad, French week, French holidays, etc.)
5. Assign one teacher to be the liaison between college counseling and the alumni office to monitor the continuation of French language learning beyond Hopkins School

Special Program Features (we offer and have offered):

• 2014 Trip to Quebec for 50 students in 7th & 8th grade
• 2015 March, Trip to Paris France with 15 students, 8th-12th grades
• 2011-2015, Celebration of French week—the entire school participates, the French club makes delicious treats, the cafeteria makes only French food, speakers come, French music is played at assemblies, French sayings are written on school sidewalks, French works of art are hung in our art gallery, crepe making for entire school, etc.
• 2011-2015 (any prior to these years as well) Administration of the Grand Concours
• Fashion Show (8th graders)
• Scavenger Hunts (French 1, 2—when learning directions)
• 2014, 5 students attended Oxbridge Academic programs (4 in Paris, 1 Montpellier)
• 2013, 2 students study in France with SYA (Student Year Abroad)
• Poetry Recitations and Participation in COLT
• Dressing as famous poets, writers, bandes dessinés characters for Halloween
• Field trips to Shubert Theatre, NYC, and New Haven to view French art or partake in French food
• Hosts an annual AATF workshop on our campus—this year 35 members attended a technology workshop for French

What has made our program special? Most importantly, it is the students who are in our program. They are the reason that we continue to strive to share our passion for the French language and the cultures of the Francophone world. They have been our willing accomplices as we share a learning adventure, and work to mold global citizens.

1. THE CLASSROOM, first and foremost! – it’s all about the learning, making it fun, relevant, proficiency based, as well as our ability to be “sales people” who continually share the value of learning French, to be multi-culturally aware citizens of the world and literate communicators. Students can begin world languages in 8th grade and continue through level V – Advanced Placement.
2. French Club – our club is active, fun, and we welcome non-French students as well. Our student leaders have a strong voice in determining our events for the year, we offer “scholarships” to students who can’t afford our events (no questions asked), and our emphasis is on culture, especially food, games, and film. The club provides an opportunity for leadership experience, friendships, and involvement in our school.
3. Société Honoraire de Français members are inducted in the fall and are expected to participate in French Club events and/or peer tutoring, national events including Le Grand Concours and the AP test, as well as chapter events such as ourJournée d’Immersion. For students whose work or sports schedules don’t permit as much involvement, I have a list of 25 opportunities for involvement, including projects which can be completed on their own. Senior SHF members “earn” their tassels, cords, and honor pin through their level of involvement and commitment. Again, students have opportunities for leadership as well and take an active role in running our organization.
4. National French Week gives our program an opportunity to increase our visibility in the school. We play French music in the halls during passing periods; we participate in the national and chapter contests (videos, essays, trivia); students create Gazettes des Toilettes – eye-catching and informative postings which we put on the inside of all of our bathroom stalls and over our urinals. (I got this idea from our SADD club, which used to post Stall Street Journals!) Our students have had great success with video submissions, which leads to visibility in the community and on social media!
5. Publicity and visibility in our school and community, Viking Vessel, Social Media – I have found that most of these outlets are hungry for our news. We just have to take the time to write up the news. I try to place an article with photos in our school newsletter, the Viking Vessel, multiple times per year. Our school district’s communications director is really helpful at spreading the good news when something exciting happens in our program – last spring, we had three BIG events – my colleague Pam Cabeen was awarded our chapter’s Prix du Chapitre, and I was thrilled to receive our county’s Regional Superintendent’s Educator of the Year Award, and our program was awarded Exemplary Program with Honors status … which was featured on our school district Web page for four weeks! The beautiful plaque we received from AATF has now been hung in our school, as well.
6. Student travel opportunities help our students to witness history and culture firsthand and give them opportunities to use their language skills. We do a two-week European trip every other summer.
7. Student hosting through Échanges Culturels Internationaux: French students come to the U.S. for three weeks, in both July and August, and we have ten to twenty students per year who host a French student. Some students go on to create lasting friendships with their French guests and communicate with them and continue to visit back and forth for many years.
8. International Week is a time for collaboration, cooperation, and celebration with Spanish and German colleagues and students. We celebrate the languages, the world’s diversity, and generally, become as visible in school as Homecoming Week is. Open mic talent contests, international potlucks, poster contests, a flash mob, and even a video featuring our language students and teachers are among the events we have offered to our world language students at Geneva High School.
9. Music and Culture are good ways to hook the students’ interest. We watch music videos, dance along with them, sing together, and I have a collection of children’s instruments which they love using as we make a joyful noise. Cultural awareness and learning helps the students to appreciate the world’s diversity through food, the arts, literature, and beyond.
10. La Francophonie – We continually emphasize that French is more than FRANCE, but a whole world of possibilities. Project-based learning, service projects involving Heifer International, Les Médecins sans Frontières, H2O Africa, and beyond, link studies with service and global citizenship.
11. Music videos and YouTube channel ~ Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? After being inspired by, of all people, an accounting teacher who made a video with his students, I thought, “If he can make accounting seem fun, think what WE can do with FRENCH!”
12. Grants – We’ve taken advantage of our district’s generous opportunities through Geneva Academic Foundation, which has allowed us to bring cultural opportunities to our students including Tim Mooney’s one man show Molière than Thou (two times), Claudia Hommel’s “Paris in the 1950’s, a musical cabaret.” We invite other classes, including drama and music, to join us.
13. Journée d’Immersion participation, gives our students the unique opportunity to participate with French students throughout the Chicago area in a full-day immersion opportunity. In addition, inspired by fellow French teacher Erin Gibbons, we have had our own do-it-yourself mini-immersions – three-hour events at our school which are easier for some students to fit into their schedules.
14. Through our involvement in the AATF, attending meetings, becoming an officer, giving presentations, and attending and presenting at the Congrès national, our students benefit from their teachers having their ‘finger on the pulse’ of French education. Le Grand Concours, La Semaine du Français, Champions d’Expression, and our chapter’s stellar newsletter, Francofeuilles, editor Cathy Kendrigan, provide myriad opportunities for both teachers and students!
15. Upcoming goals, including a new spectacle. Three years ago we performed an abbreviated version of Les Misérables (en français, bien sûr!) and invited parents to attend. It was right before the movie musical came out. This year … perhaps we can repeat our past success with Le Petit Prince? I will have a new colleague, Molly Shanahan, who has just graduated from college, so I’m sure that she will bring a dose of energy and enthusiasm to our program. Other goals? As Buzz Lightyear would say, “To infinity and beyond!” Use more travel photos in school PowerPoints? Parent newsletter once per month? Opening of school parent letter? Instagram? Scholarship for continuation? The sky’s the limit!

Although a French program has been present at Chapel Hill High School since the school’s origins fifty years ago—CHHS possesses one of the earliest charters of la Société Honoraire de Français—it experienced revitalization in recent years. As a high school French program, they must strive to meet the needs of students with a variety of prior French experience: students have options to study French throughout elementary and middle school. Chapel Hill High School must then prepare its students for collegiate classes, from which many chose to study abroad in Francophone countries such as Rwanda, Belgium, France, and Morocco. Graduates plan to continue using French in their careers in International Business, Public Health and Education. The French program does not merely meet these tasks but exceeds them.

Chapel Hill High School offers French 1, 2, 3, 4, AP, and 6, with many quantifiable accounts of success throughout all levels. There is complete participation in the National French Contest, with many students earning recognition from both the state and national AATF. This year a level 4C student placed 1st in the U.S. Students who excel in their French classes are invited to apply to the French National Honor Society, and the many honorees are inducted in an annual ceremony that also celebrates French culture and academic excellence. At the AP Level, 100% of students pass, with the average score over a 4.

Furthermore, students frequently take initiative to study French culture through the thriving, student-run French Club and French National Honor Society. The two clubs work together to spread French culture throughout the school. In the past, these activities have taken the form of a French cheese tasting, a “No-English” school dance, a monthly «Café Français», and an International Night produced with the help of other diverse student associations at the school. Every year, both clubs collaborate celebrating la Semaine de la francophonie, making posters promoting the value of the language, playing music over the school’s PA system, and writing inspiring French quotes in chalk around the school.

The French program also prides itself on its focus on the incorporation of French into different aspects of everyday life. Students in upper-level courses create personalized Web sites that they use as digital portfolios to document their learning and growth. This allows them to practice technological skills while learning new aspects of French. After reading Jean Giono’s L’Homme qui plantait des arbres, AP students planted a ginko tree at the school to improve the school environment. This year marks the 4th tree planted at the school by the AP French class. French teachers have implemented Understanding by Design Units to promote the acquisition of new performance tasks. Both Mme Campbell and Mme Mote are highly skilled professionals, each with a master’s degree in French. Mme Campbell earned her National Board certification this year, while also being recognized as the North Carolina AATF Teacher of the Year. Mme Mote has a lengthy career teaching French. CHHS’ French program prides itself in giving back to the community. The French Club has made it an annual tradition to run a school-wide canned food drive, which serves students and families in the community. The French National Honor Society organizes tutoring for lower level students and are required to tutor a student at least once a month.

Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio is an International Baccalaureate Diploma School and on the College Board AP Honor Roll, offering 2400 students 35 AP and IB classes and college credit. Kettering City Schools is an Ohio Department of Education School District of Excellence with Distinction. This excellence can be found everywhere on campus: in the IB science labs, on the walls bedecked with student art, in the Calculus III classrooms, in our nationally recognized music program, in AP English classes, in IB seminars with international authors, and in our French, German, Latin, and Spanish classrooms. We are fortunate to have developed a culture of success where students believe they can achieve, regardless of their background or economic status.

Over the course of the past several years, the character of the French Department has changed. Becoming an IB school has expanded our school approach to global citizenship: becoming proficient in a world language is an important component of the international focus. Thus, preparing for successful IB assessments necessitated developing our French curriculum into a more substantial and rigorous offering. We updated our courses across all levels to increase learning in the four aspects of reading, writing, listening and speaking. We aligned the curriculum to include Ohio and National Standards as well as AP and IB global themes, and bolstered achievement goals all along the way. We speak in French at every opportunity in each level for comprehensible input. And this year, we welcome a full section of eighth graders enrolled in French to the high school, eventually increasing the language offering at Fairmont to a five-year program.

Technology is playing a greater role in the way we teach and students learn. All FHS classrooms are equipped with Smart boards and Ladibug projectors. Moreover, as part of our Race to the Top funding, all students are issued Chromebooks. The French Department recently received money through a local grant to purchase a library of almost 30 French and Francophone films on DVD for use in the classroom as well as for student check-out so they can watch and learn at their own pace. Activities include writing film reviews, re-enacting scenes, describing and developing characters, writing poems, changing endings — all providing subjects for meaningful class discussion. These activities can be adjusted for any level of learner.

From the novice level on, students practice their presentational and interpersonal skills with individual and group projects. While similar in nature, they are articulated, differentiated, and scaffolded based on student level. For example, French I students prepare a presentation on Paris monuments and then open the class to discussion. The following year they research and present on a region in France, including departments, important cities, natural resources, and cultural venues. In year three, students present the weather from a Francophone location, including conversion to metric for temperature and wind speed, researching facts about their Francophone region and signing off à la française. These projects lead to the culminating year four project of a major presentation of a Francophone country, including everything from how the area came to speak French, birth and literacy rates, politics, religions and languages spoken, geographical features, traditional cuisine and customs to their present-day challenges in the 21st-century world.

Throughout the year, Fairmont French students participate in AATF activities. In the fall, we celebrate National French Week by writing and submitting essays for the AATF annual essay contest. We festoon the room, enjoy traditional foods, and decorate the school display case. Each November, French IV students participate in Wright State University’s excellent Journée d’Immersion experience on campus.

In the winter, we prepare for and take the Grand Concours. This year, almost 200 FHS students took the AATF National French Contest. We are pleased that Fairmont had 13 national winners, 3 state/chapter honorees, and 28 honorable mentions; most students received Certificats de Réussite. Preparing for the Grand Concours helps the students fare better on all high-stakes tests; it acclimates them to the test culture and bolsters critical listening and thinking skills. Both the number of students taking the AP and IB exams and their scores have steadily improved.

In the spring, we tap and induct new members into the Société Honoraire de Français. This year, we also honored a senior student with the AATF Outstanding Senior in French Award. The AATF provides avenues for teachers to promote the significance of learning French as well as individually recognizing students for their achievements.

Fairmont has a vibrant French Club that offers various types of cultural and social activities. Some activities include our annual t-shirt design contest, cheese-tasting event, French movie nights, learning songs and dances, making (and eating!) traditional dishes and pastries, mini-plays, and celebrating French holidays. Following the tenets of the IB learner profile, we “adopt” children at Christmas and annually support local and international charities.

We host a “Day at the Museums” excursion, traveling to regional museums to see French works of art. For example, last year, we attended the Toledo Museum of Art where we saw “LeNôtre’s Gardens: Landscaper to the Kings” temporary exhibit and a great mosaic wall of Matisse among other notable works of art. We then continued on to the Detroit Institute of Art where we viewed their French and African collections and Rivera’s mural. This summer, the Club will visit our local Dayton Art Institute. We are already planning a cross-curricular trip with the IB Theatre class to visit the Art Institute of Chicago in the fall.

Every two years, French students travel overseas. I have developed a curriculum to accompany our trips, where students have the opportunity to research selected historical sites we will visit before departure, continue their research as we visit the venues, and then upon return produce a compendium of what they have learned. They receive a semester credit through our credit flex program. Fairmont High School is humbled by and grateful for the award of Exemplary with Honors bestowed on us by the AATF. My colleague Michele McCarty and I acknowledge our incredible French students and engaged parents, former Fairmont French teachers, support from the Ohio AATF Chapter and Ohio Foreign Language Association, and excellent leadership from the Wright State University French Department.

Introduction: The French program reflects the mission of MLK’s World Language Department, that is, “to teach and assist students in developing proficiency in another language in order for them to become successful in a multi-cultural world.” It is a five-to-six-year sequential program, beginning in seventh grade (MLK houses grades 7 through 12), although some students start their language later, depending when they enter the school. The French program has maintained steady enrollment for the past ten years. MLK gives students the opportunity to continue their studies of French through AP French Language and Culture. This has encouraged many to continue at university and, in most cases, at an advanced entrance level. Several graduates have chosen to study at universities in French-speaking countries, even if they were majoring in another subject. Some graduates have also used French in their careers, which include international business and government.

Instructional practices and assessments: A key instructional practice is MLK’s digital language lab. Installed in August 2014, the lab assists students in communication skills (speaking and listening) and allows for AP
testing in a digital environment, which provides enhanced quality of audio input and recordings of oral parts of the test. The funding for the language lab was provided by MLK’s PTSA, which evidences the support of faculty, parents and students for MLK’s World Language program.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) introduced a standards-based curriculum across the board three or four years ago entitled “Grading for Learning.” Grades are now only given for assessments, and students are allowed multiple opportunities to show that they have mastered a particular standard. (Mastery is set as a percentage by each department). The teacher uses practice assignments to give detailed feedback to the student before the student takes the assessment. Student self-assessments are also incorporated to show the teacher what the student thinks about his or her own performance, thereby encouraging ownership of learning and supporting intrinsic motivation.

Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA) are incorporated at all levels of language teaching and learning, sometimes only partially at novice levels. The three communication modes (interpretive, interpersonal and presentational) are used as categories for the high school grade book, with the four skills (reading, writing, speaking,
listening, plus “integrated” where more than one skill is assessed) for the middle school.

Sponsored by the AATF, the National French Contest (Le Grand Concours) allows students a unique opportunity to compete against their peers nationwide, thus providing national data in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. MLK has entered students in the contest (Levels 1 through 4 or 5 typically) for at least the past ten years.

Connecting students to outside resources:

Société honoraire de français (SHF) (established October 2007): Inductees into MLK’s SHF are typically in 9th grade, as their 8th grade High School Credit can be taken into account. Members of the SHF are expected to take part in one or more committees: Events, Fund-raising, Tutoring, Publicity, and the Club de français (CF). Meetings for all members of the SHF or for select committees are held regularly. SHF officers, elected each August, are invited to take the lead, and meetings are sometimes held in conjunction with the CF. Members of the SHF provide regular community service. Examples are weekly tutoring to younger students, spearheading National French Week, including fund-raising, CF meetings, la Semaine de la francophonie and World Language Week. Outside guest speakers, including Sister Cities of Nashville (SCN) are invited regularly to speak to the SHF, French Club and French classes, depending on the topic.

Three students have taken part in the SCN exchange to Caen over the past several years, and more have hosted students even if they were not able to travel to France themselves. Two of the students who traveled to Caen were recipients of an AATF Travel Award. In all, MLK students have been successful in three out of four Travel Award applications. Field trips for French classes and SHF members have been arranged almost every year, sometimes more than one, when the curriculum can be enhanced by outside events. Examples include dance troupes, exhibits, and visits to French restaurants. In April this year, members of the Nashville ballet worked with advanced French classes on how to portray ballet vocabulary via movement, thanks to a Tennessee Arts Commission grant.

Future goals:

• Continue induction into MLK’s SHF where students are able to access outside resources to enhance their education in French language and culture;
• Explore OPIc assessment for students in advanced classes, especially those who are planning to study French at college;
• Consider applying for an academic charter for the new AATF (middle school) Jeunes amis du français;
• Continue to explore the establishment of an MLK exchange program with a high school in a French-speaking region;
• Continue to seek out opportunities for students to hone and improve their language skills though extracurricular activities, technological tools, and partnerships with other schools and educators;
• Collaborate with other professionals on IPAs and how best to implement them effectively at all levels of language teaching and learning;
• Seek out opportunities to enhance and support teacher’s content knowledge.

Vandegrift High School opened in 2009 with French I. In 2010 when I began, French II and Pre-AP III were added. The following year, we had our first AP French class, and despite only offering Spanish in our district middle schools, upper levels have increased steadily each year.

My first year here at VHS, I formed the French Club. We take local field trips to places such as the French Legation, the Harry Ransom Center, Bob Bullock Museum, and other local museums with French-themed exhibits, as well as ending in a traditional crêperie for lunch. We also have bi-annual parties at a French restaurant in Austin. VHS French Club is one of the most active, longest-running clubs here on campus. We participate in National French Week and Adopt-a-Hallway here at school. We also participate in the Relay for Life yearly event held on campus in April. The French Club elects its own officers yearly, and students run it. When the Charlie Hebdo events unfolded, both the French Club and French Honor Society led campaigns in support of #jesuischarlie here on campus.

In 2013, we were funded by a local LEEF Grant to purchase French novels for levels two and three in order to supplement the textbooks and nurture reading comprehension in the target language.

French Honor Society students must attend at least 4 events/year in order to remain in good standing. We team up with the French Club to participate in Relay for Life. French Honor Society students also tutor underclassmen in French during our daily PIT (study hall) times as needed. Officer positions are elected yearly, and the organization is entirely student-led. We have an annual Induction ceremony in April.

I am an active member of the Central Texas AATF Chapter and try to attend at least one of their two meetings per academic year. Each year I nominate one Outstanding Senior to receive the AATF award.

I am an active member of the Texas Foreign Language Assocation (TFLA) and won a Rosemary Patterson Grant in 2013 where I studied for a week at Merici College in Québec City. I attended a week-long immersion workshop for Teachers of French as a Second Language.

In June 2013 I organized a student trip to Québec (6 students) and will again lead students in June 2015 to France (6 students).

To my knowledge, there have been several VHS alumni who have continued to study French at the college level. There are eight that I know of who are currently majoring or minoring in French. I am able to keep in contact with these students on a regular basis, and some of them make an appearance at least once/year to speak to my current seniors. They offer advice not only in French at the university level and the AP exams but also college life.

Beginning in the spring of 2015, we participated in a student exchange (pen pals, technology/lesson implementation, and homestays) with a high school in Lille, France. AP French is also participating in “Penpal Schools” which partners our class up with a similar one in France to exchange blogs, e-mails, etc.

We have a relationship with local Francophone tutors and parents. These volunteers set-up summer exchanges between our students and same-aged ones in France. I also have two French parents visit my AP class regularly to engage students in impromptu speaking situations.

We have hosted Le Grand Concours yearly on campus since 2012 when I began. We host an induction for la Société Honoraire de Français annually in April. Language practice is also provided with local native speakers who are guests in the classroom. Traditionally, VHS Grand Concours scores remain steady in the top 10-30% category at all levels. Each year there are at least 3-5 who receive medals for placing in the top 10%. Parents often volunteer to proctor the Grand Concours, and they donate ice cream for our traditional ice cream sundae party after the competition.

VHS future plans include expanding the program to have more than just two sections of level 1, which has been the traditional model. French Honor Society students attend 8th Grade Parent Orientation night in order to recruit underclassmen. We contact the middle school counselors on a regular basis each year, asking for their cooperation in educating 8th graders on the possibility of taking French 1 for credit. Spanish 1 is the only current LOTE course offered in our middle schools and has been for many years.

I try my best to adhere to the 90% rule of speaking French in all levels. Students are graded on participation which includes speaking French and not English. This is 20% of their overall grade. Student desks are paired-up so that everyone always has at least one partner for communication.

In the upper levels, students are required to do 45 minutes of outside listening to French and record it.

In each level for every chapter there is a memorized/impromptu skit in which all students must participate. These skits typically include the vocabulary, culture, & grammar of the chapter. All levels use court-métrages and other excerpts from numerous authentic sites such as Radio Canada, TV5, etc., as appropriate for each chapter with accompanying questions.

The Vandegrift High School French program is fortunate to have unwavering support from Administrators, parents, and community members. This includes our Superintendent, Dr. Bret Champion, and our Principal, Mr. Charlie Little. They have always supported and nurtured my passion for French and the students who are a part of our program.

I myself had an outstanding French teacher in high school and I never doubt the power of one person to change the world. As soon as I entered Madame Amo’s classroom as a freshman, I knew I had found my calling. She encouraged me and nurtured my talent in French. Her passion was contagious! When I was 15 years old I decided I would become a French teacher and spread this beautiful language to as many students as I could. I was privileged to then go on and student teach back in her classroom while in college. I carry on her legacy every day at Vandegrift High School where my French students are truly “sans pareil” (second to none).

http://classroom.leanderisd.org/default.aspx?Kelly%20Simon/home

Since 2009, Wakefield High School’s French program has been growing in numbers, in terms of activities, professional development for teachers, and student successes. Located just outside of Washington DC in Arlington, VA, a very diverse student population has benefitted from program offerings in French. Despite language offerings in more than 8 other languages, a robust French program continues to grow with two dedicated French teachers.

The majority of our students begin their French studies in 7th grade at one of our feeder middle schools: Kenmore (Arts & Communications Technology School), Jefferson (IB MYP), Gunston (Spanish Immersion focus). As a result, our largest enrollment exists at the French 3 level. Unlike other high schools who have been forced to move their level 1 and 2 classes on-line due to low enrollment, we have maintained several sections of the beginner classes at the high school level as well. Enrollment in AP French Language and Culture at our school is also boosted by fluent speakers of French who move into our school zone. Recently, we have welcomed heritage learners into our upper-level classes from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Chad, and France. With administrative support, we were able to offer a post-AP class called Advanced Studies of French and hope to offer it as dual-enrollment with a local college in the future. Because our studies of French begin early for many students, we will also offer a French 5 class (pre-AP) to try to increase student success in AP, to improve retention, and better prepare students to continue with French at the university level. Since 2009 we have increased our class periods in French, and hope to continue to grow more over the next few years.

Professional development has helped us create more engaging, contemporary lessons for our students. With our close proximity to Washington, DC, we are able to profit from professional development offerings through the Embassy of France (Art in the FLE classroom, Storytelling in French). World Language Department Chair and French teacher Katy Wheelock studied at CAVILAM, in Vichy, France in July 2014 through a bourse (Stage Pédagogique de Courte Durée— SPCD) from the French government. She has also attended training on Modified Oral Proficiency Interviews (MOPI) through the Department of Education of Virginia and has attended professional conferences with ACTFL, AATF, MaFLA, and FLAVA. Last year she presented at FLAVA (with a presentation about the SPCD in Vichy, France) and this fall she will offer a presentation called “Invigorating your French Program with AATF.”

This is our first year with an active chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français (SHF). We inducted 24 students into our chapter with a formal evening event attended by parents and the Education Affairs Program Officer from the Embassy of France. Many students participated in our first Grand Concours as well, winning medals at the gold and silver level, with many bronze and honorable mentions. A French 4 student was accepted to Virginia’s Summer Governors’ Academy program for French; he was our first acceptance from the World Languages program in at least the last six school years. A freshman won an award for an essay for the SHF Creative Writing Contest. Two French 4 students wrote original poetry, which they then read aloud earlier during World Languages Week at a countywide public event. We are proud of our students who have been willing to take risks and push themselves to enter a variety of contests and events.

To bring the world into our classroom, we have worked over the last several years to have connections with various “experts” locally and from around the world. We maintain a relationship with our Sister City Committee (Arlington-Reims) for exchange opportunities to host or to travel to France. The French Club prepared welcome posters for the students and an American-style breakfast sponsored by the host parents made for a warm welcome to their day at Wakefield. The entire exchange was a great experience for both the French and American students. Many tears were shed as students said au revoir, but modern technology is keeping them in frequent contact with each other since their return to France.

Guest speakers such as the Director of the Canada Institute, Wilson Center and a Senegalese reporter with the Voice of America residing in Arlington have added to the typical classroom instruction. We maintained a Skype relationship with a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal to talk about her daily life, usage of French etc. Teacher Katy Wheelock also maintains contact with a teacher from Charleville-Mézières in the Reims region through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Virginia Department of Education and the Académie de Reims. Students share videos: personal introductions, tours of the school, in both French and English. Teachers share ideas and authentic resources to improve teaching techniques. A new idea to link Wakefield’s AP students with the French students TPE course is under consideration for the fall 2015.

Our World Languages Department organizes a biannual Declamation Contest, in late winter. All of our French students memorize poems in class, and the best three for each level are selected to present in a juried contest in front of nearly 600 students. Miss Virginia International, Kristyn Admire, a linguist herself, came to encourage students to continue their foreign language studies in the future at our last contest.

In conjunction with Wakefield’s annual Heritage Week celebrations, our students create displays from their francophone homes. One year, students shed their American clothes in favor of brightly colored pagnes, boubous, foulards, and chemises made from Sotiba fabric, and tye-died damask cloth, commonly-worn in Senegal, where Katy Wheelock spent a year as a Rotary Ambassdor. After putting on their Senegalese clothes, students pushed the desks to the side, washed their hands, sat on the floor, and enjoyed a meal of poulet yassa, eaten with their hands around the bowl, as is often done in Senegal. All students enjoyed the food, and it helped to bring to life their current studies on Racines et Ethnies. During the meal, students listened to African music, watched videos of Senegalese dances, and even tried some out, too!

Their experiences in class have led our French Honor Society to gain interest in establishing a service project or fundraiser in 2015-2016 to assist children in need in Senegal. We are very proud of our program but are looking forward to new challenges ahead. Ideally, we will do outreach to the middle schools to encourage participation in high school French, and we will maintain relationships with our graduates to promote French studies at the university level as well. Maintaining or growing our program while striving for increased proficiency of our students will lead us in our future endeavors.

Cannon School’s Upper School faculty includes Dr. Michelle Donah, Mrs. Sarah Miller, and Dr. Simard-Newman who received the North Carolina AATF Teacher of the Year and AATF Bourse d‘été in 2001. She received the AATF Dorothy S. Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Award and North Carolina AATF Concours Pédagogique in 2013.

Dr. Simard-Newman, Dr. Michelle Donah, and Mrs. Sarah Miller believe that teaching is one of the most honorable and powerful professions in the world. Teachers are in a position of great influence over young minds. Not only do they teach French, but also open the world to students. They teach them tolerance, diversity, globalization, and self-confidence in traveling the world. Cannon School is very proud of its students graduating from a strong program and being able to travel to a foreign country with the confidence of being able to speak the language. Students had the opportunity to take a class on Cajun culture and history and immerse themselves into the culture with a trip to Lafayette, LA. Students have also learned about a Francophone culture in Valdese, NC. They explored the small city, learned about their French heritage, and created a video to enter the contest sponsored by the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques. Cannon School also offers a current exchange program with a sister school in China and is developing a relationship with a sister school in France, the Institut Saint-Louis near La Rochelle. Next year will be the first year welcoming students from La Rochelle and visiting them in June 2016. Students are involved in penpal exchanges with schools in France. They also have the opportunity to travel to France or Canada every year. They attend a language school and use their language skills to immerse themselves into French culture. It also enables students to have the self-confidence to manage in a foreign setting. Many decide to continue learning French in their college education.

Cannon School offers beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses in French. Students study Francophone literature such as Une si longue lettre de Miriama Bâ, Un Papillon dans la cité de Gisèle Pineau, and Québécois short stories by Roch Carrier ou Gabrielle Roy. Students are also taught French and Francophone culture through films such as les Intouchables, Monsieur Lazhar, ou Welcome. Students view, analyze, and write assignments pertaining to AP French themes, including topics such as les défis mondiaux, la quête de soi, la famille et la communauté, la technologie et les sciences, l’esthétique, and la vie contemporaine. Students in advanced classes participate in the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview. It is important to evaluate students’ oral proficiency levels and expect intermediate and advanced levels after four years of French studies.

Cannon School offers French I, II, III, IV, V, and AP. Cannon School is a laptop school where teachers can use computers and Smart boards, latest technology, software, and on-line textbooks. When Cannon School started the French program in high school, it included a small number of students. Today, it is a very strong discipline within the World Language Department. Cannon School hosted the North Carolina AATF spring conference on several occasions, which can be considered a great accomplishment and honor for the upper school.

Teachers are encouraged to participate in continuing professional education and share their knowledge with fellow teachers in the region. They also highly interested in teaching interdisciplinary courses with other departments such as history or arts. Cannon School offers a Winterm during which teachers can collaborate and teach world cultures. Cannon School is developing a global education program including ways to help students learn and immerse themselves into French and Francophone cultures. They participate in events organized by the World View Program in Chapel Hill or the World Affairs Council of Charlotte.

Cannon School has had a chapter of the AATF French Honor Society since 2001. An active group of students demonstrate passion and excellence in learning French language and culture. They help welcome new members during the annual induction ceremony and lead the French club. All French classes participate in the Grand Concours annually and receive excellent results. For National French Week, all classes decorate the World Language hall with French posters which they created on topics such as French-speaking regions, flags, Impressionist and Surrealist artists. Students also learn to make crêpes in the classroom and are encouraged to bring in French food. Students are very excited about the possibility of hosting a French student next year when they visit us in the spring 2016. Many are interested in visiting the Institut Saint-Louis in June 2016. This exchange program demonstrates Cannon School’s commitment to immerse students into French language and culture.

For more information: http://www.cannonschool.org/internationalprograms