French Week, a week dedicated to celebrating French culture, is being hosted by the French Club from Nov. 1 to the 8. Two weeks is filled with different themes for each day and includes activities and hobbies that are popular in France such as sports like la pétanque and music. The overall theme for the week is “All around me, la francophonie!”, which translates to French speaking community.
The week begins on Wednesday, Nov. 1 with la pétanque, a sport of boules or balls, where there are two teams competing to win the game. La pétanque consists of one “jack” or wooden target that the teams throw their boules to. Whichever team gets the closest to the “jack” wins the game. The French Club encourages any teacher to play this game with their classes during the week.
Thursday is celebrating botany, where a scavenger to find different plants in the garden will take place. Botany teacher Brandon Davis is inviting all teachers to a scavenger hunt and those teachers can bring students with them to participate. The first student to complete the scavenger hunt from the proposed list, can come to room 911 and claim a prize. The list can be found on the National French Week at MSD document, explaining all the activities.
On Friday, band teacher Stu Rabin will help in providing both lunches with the “La Fête de la Musique,” a French tradition where everyone is encouraged to sing and play music out in the streets of the city. The event normally will take place on June 21 and was originally created by the French Maurice Fleuret about 41 years ago.
Monday will be the Science Festival, sponsored by astronomy teacher Kyle Jeter. Jeter created an informative documentary about the French observatory, “Le Pic du Midi.” His video is available on YouTube and it is recommended that all teachers share it with their students.
Wednesday will be the last day of French week for MSD students. Seventh period French III Honors will be collaborating with art teacher Randee Lombard to explore the work of Haitian artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Also on Wednesday, culinary students will also be participating in French week by preparing a feast. The MSD staff is invited to enjoy a “Pause dejeuner,” a special French dedicated lunch.
MSD students have many opportunities to celebrate and learn more about French culture throughout the week.
