LFHS French Students Celebrate National French Week

During the first week of December 2009 the French students at Lake Forest High School celebrated National French Week, a celebration that highlights the importance of French locally, nationally, and globally.

Throughout this week sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), the French teachers Heather Song and Laura Sperling planned activities and events to celebrate the fact that French is spoken by over 200 million people in 43 countries on 5 continents. Not only is French a beautiful language, but it is an extremely useful language to know. Throughout the week, students participated in a trivia contest with questions based on French history, art, culture, geography, and famous francophiles. During lunch periods on Thursday, students were invited to the David Miller Theater to watch a French film. And the pièce de résistance was partaking in a typical French petit déjeuner (breakfast) of pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant) and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) in the Wedge Café on Friday morning.

The French students ended the week wearing t-shirts designed by French 5AP student Patty Ziccarelli (the second year in a row her design was chosen). More than 200 students study French at LFHS, and it was inspiring to observe the sea of French tricolor t-shirts showing the pride these students have in their second-language choice!  The week was a fun way to celebrate the French language and all things French. This was the second annual National French Week celebration at the high school and the teachers are already discussing more ideas for next year. It is a great way to promote the language and celebrate its importance. There definitely was a feeling of joie de vivre throughout the hallways of LFHS.