Day 11: Our Last Day at Lycée Jean Racine

Our last day at Lycée Jean Racine began with a display of our artwork blending the flags of France, the United States, Picardy and Oklahoma.

Then, while the Westmoore students went to English class, Madame Robillard and Madame Worster went with Madame Dangreville to the train station to pick up Monsieur Philip Simmonds who is the Director of International Relations and Programs for the Académie d'Amiens. (Basically, it is thanks to him that we have the chance to work in partnership with the Lycée Jean Racine and we are very grateful for all of his work on our behalf.) Before returning to the school we took him out for a ver French lunch. Madame Robillard had canard confit (aged duck) and it was delicious!

As soon as we returned to the Lycée Jean Racine with Monsieur Simmonds, we showed him our flag projects. Here he is with Madame Worster and her inspired creation using Langston Hughes' poem "A Dream Deferred".









We were all pleased and surprised to learn that Monsieur Mickael DuFossé who led our students in this art project was also a former student of Monsieru Simmonds! What a small world. In this picture they are standing next to Monsieur Simmonds' personal favorite among the students' projects (it was made by Carly and Allison and their French partner).

Then we went to the theatre performance room to sit on a theatre workshop the Westmoore students were doing in French with some of the theatre students from Lycée Jean Racine. Katie owned the show! Clearly, this girl is made for theatre! All of the kids were amazing in their performances and both Madame Worster and Madame Robillard regretted that they had to lead the workshop to see Monsieur Simmonds off.

Here are a couple of things about Lycée Jean Racine that we were interested to learn:

1) They have a "Safe Hall" just like Westmoore (although it's probably not build to resist a tornado).

2) They have a cat. Actually, this kitty mascot wanders the school campus, greets visitors, chases bugs, and basically leads a cat's life and all the students at Lycée Jean Racine know him and love him. Since French schools don't have true mascots like ours do, we've decided that this kitty is the new Lycée Jean Racine mascot, although not as ferocious as a jaguar and not as black, either.

After an afternoon of theatrical performance and fun, it was time for the party to begin! Our hosts put together a "Going Away" party and invited all the kids who have been to Oklahoma or who have hosted us here. Great times were had by all. Enjoy the pictures of our party fun!

There won't be a blog for Saturday, since we will all be off with our host families doing our own thing and packing for our departure on Sunday. But on Sunday evening, we will return with a blog about our farewells at the train station and our trip to Normandy.