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In March 2018, Southampton Academy French students are preparing to travel to our partner school Jean Talon in Champagne, France. In May of 2016, our partnership started. An application was found online, filled out, and sent to a French Diplomat in Washington, D.C. In the summer, Mrs. Ferguson started Skyping with the French teachers, Amandine Hot and Frédéric Montanari, who teach English at Jean Talon. A teacher to teacher relationship was forming.
School started and an Edmodo page was set up with Jean Talon and its European section students. Our students started posting messages and videos. Mrs. Ferguson’s students were very pleased to contact people that speak the language they were studying. Some remarks were, “We are speaking to real French people.”, “They are just like us.”, and “This is really neat!” Since both USA and France were electing new presidents, the theme for last year’s online exchange was presidential elections. Jean Talon’s students made campaign videos and Southampton Academy watched them through Edmodo. Favorite candidates were voted on, and a winner was announced. The students were surprised to learn that free college education and representation of minorities were big issues in the French Students’ campaigns. Through this French exchange program, a gap between language learning and real-world experience has been bridged.
In March 2017, 15 French students and their teachers, Mme. Hot and M. Montanari, came to experience life at Southampton Academy. Host families were found and life-long friendships were formed. Some of the students still snapchat their French brothers and sisters. A few students will be hosted in France by their French sisters or brothers this March. Through this French exchange program, we have bridged the gap between language learning and real-world experience. Since future generations must be more globally minded, our exchange program has put our students a step closer to global citizenship.