Day 3: To Market We Shall Go!

Today began as a cold, rainy morning. But, our spirits are not dampened and we're loving our time here. Once we had all gathered at the high school, our French host brothers and sisters went to class and we headed off for our welcome meeting with the Mayor-ess of Montdidier. The students walked with Mme Dangreville while Madame Worster drove Madame Robillard over to the town hall.

The mayor, Madame Christine Le Tyrant, has been mayor of Montdidier since 2001 and she was recently re-elected for another term. She is very gregarious, very proud of Montdidier, and always happy to share the town hall and a bit of her French perspective with students. She offered us sweet bread and beverages, asked us about the tornado devastation in our town, and helped to put the students at ease right away. In this picture (above) we are all gathered in the great meeting hall upstairs at the Hôtel de Ville (town hall) with the mayor in the center and Madame Dangreville kneeling in front. This is the room where city council meetings still take place.

            

The most beautiful aspect of the Hôtel de Ville, which was rebuilt in 1936 after having been destroyed in World War I is the Art Deco style on display. This statue of a woman (on the left here) is the "Marianne", a symbol of the French nation that can be found in every government office in France. You may notice she is wearing the cap of a French Revolutionary.


A nice employee of the Hôtel de Ville agreed to let us walk up a very steep series of stairs to the belfry tower so we could have a panoramic view of the town.

Here is Riley on the stairs. It was pretty scary!

And here is the view of Montdidier from the belfry.

These are just a few of the stairs we had to negotatiate.

Katie is standing with the oak carving of a character called "Jean Duquesne", which used to sit at the top of the Hôtel de Ville, before it was destroyed.

After the visit at the town hall, we had an hour of free time in the center of Montdidier where there are lovely shops, delicious pastries and sweets, and today was market day, so we could wander and enjoy the open-air market (especially since the rain had subsided0.

 

Jacob got to meet a Vietnamese food seller in the market!

This wonderful artisanal cheese maker recognized Madame Robillard from last night's newscast, so of course, she had to buy a round of her favorite cheese, Époisses.

On the walk back to school, we made a stop at the war monument honoring soldiers from Montdidier who died in each of the World Wars, the war in Indochina in the 1950s, and the war in Algeria in the 1960s.

Madame Worster drove Madame Robillard back to school in Madame Dangreville's minivan --- Thank goodness, because it had started to rain!

We spent the afternoon in classes and the evening with our host families.

We Made the News!

There was a report on the local news here in Picardie this evening. The tv crew came and interviewed us yesterday and they were with us as we visited Cantigny. The report is about our students' experiences with the F5 tornado and the partnership we have with the Lycée Jean Racine, as well as the research we are doing about World War I. Enjoy!

Click here to access the link

Day 2: The Art of Flags

Today was a short day at school because the French only go to school on Wednesdays for half of the day, from 8:00 until noon. The Art teacher at Lycée Jean Racine in is a wonderful, calm, and interesting man named Mickaël Dufossé. He prepared a lesson for his  most advanced Art students that would allow them to explore artistic expression and national symbols while working with our students from Westmoore. So we began the lesson with a presentation by Monsieur Dufossé about the art of Jasper Johns and Pierre Soulages. The challenge for the students was to create a fusion of the flags of France, the United States, Picardy, Oklahoma and/or the official seals of Oklahoma City and Montdidier, turning these official symbols into personal expressions of artistic creation, inspired by the style, techniques, and products of Jasper Johns and Pierre Soulanges.

Here are some examples of the works by these famous artists that Monsieur Dufossé shared with the students:

Jasper Johns

Pierre Soulanges

Once the challenge was given to the students and they were given access to a wide selection of tools and materials, they began to work in six different groups to plan their art project. Each group had at least one French student. It was a great opportunity for all the Westmoore students to use their interpersonal and language skills to negotiate new relationships and share ideas using both French and English in a common creative process. Here are the pictures of their collaborative work during the two-and-a-half hour session:

Caroline wasn't with us because her host family took her to Paris for the day, since her host father would only have today to spend time with Caroline and the family. She'll have great tales of Paris and we're certain she'll be disappointed that she didn't get to start the art project with us. But, then again, SHE GOT TO GO TO PARIS!

Of course, Madame Worster (we're calling her "Madame" now) got in on the game with her own personal response to the art challenge. Hint: It involves Langston Hughes, her trip to France, dreams deferred and realized. Yes, she is brilliant!

This project is only half-way complete. We will have three more hours to complete the art work next week, so stay tuned...

The rest of the day was spent freely with each host family. It would be great if our students would share in their comments how they spent their afternoon and evening on Wednesday.

An interview with our students appeared on France 3, the regional television news for the Picardy region. The next blog will share the video clip of the report.

Day 1: Cantigny

Our first full day in France began with an overcast morning and a cool breeze. Here is Madame Soucaze, and English teacher at our partner school who is hosting Madame at her home for the two weeks we will spend in Montdidier. Admire the beautiful view of the countryside in Picardie right next to her home:

After a brief breakfast and reception with the principal of our partner high school, Lycée Jean Racine, the students went to the town of Cantigny with Madame Robillard, Ms. Worster, and our cooperating teacher, Madame Dangreville, who teaches History at our partner school. 

Cantigny is important because of a battle that was fought there 95 years ago TODAY, which was the first battle of World War I in which Americans soldiers officially fought. Worthy of note: The 1st Infantry DIvision of the US Army, also known as "The Big Red One", fought heroically and defeated the Germans who had occupied the village of Cantigny. 

So, Cantigny was both their first battle and their first victory. May 28th is a very important day here, one the villagers commemorate every year, but we missed the celebration this year because the "Big Red One" just finished their tour in Afghanistan and asked the village to commemorate this battle a few days early (last Thursday) so the active members of the division could pay hommage in Cantigny on their way back from the war in Afghanistan. Of course, the village agreed.

The monument to American soldiers who died in the Battle of Cantigny, May 28, 1918

Caroline and Kiel at the battlefield at Cantigny

The Westmoore students with their teachers at the roadside along the fields
where the Battle of Cantigny was fought.

But we weren't disappointed, because we had a great learning experience, starting with a stop just outside Cantigny at the official monument for the Americans who died in the Battle of Cantigny, which overlooks the battlefield where there once were trenches and minefields.

(L to R) Monsieur Lefever, Katie, Michaela, Allison, Caroline, Kiel, and Riley at the World War I museum/collection created and maintained by Monsieur Lefever

Monument to the Big Red One, 1st Infantry Division of the US Army, in Cantigny

Allison, Carly, and Katie in the van on the way to meet Monsieur Lefever in Cantigny

Who is Monsieur Lefever? He is a wonderful human artifact of the village of Cantigny where he grew up. At the age of 20, when he was 2 weeks short of his release from serving his mandatory military service in the French army, World War II broke out. He was sent to the front along the Maginot line, he fought and survived through the 10 days of the forced retreat as far back as Dijon, and then his officers surrendered to the Germans and surrendered him and his fellow soldiers over to the Germans. He served five years in a German work camp before the American Army liberated him and countless others in 1945. Today he is 96 years old and he finds great joy in honoring the soldiers of World War I (whom he considers true heroes) and telling his own stories of fighting the Nazis and surviving as a prisoner of war (which he considers his duty to the nation). The students met him and explored his collection of artifacts.

Kiel and Madame with Monsieur Lefever

Madame Worster with Monsieur Lefever

Such a great living artifact!

One of the exhibits in Monsieur Lefever's private museum

 The Westmoore students gathered at the official monument honoring the sacrifice of American soldiers in Battle of Cantigny and the great victory they won. This monument is maintained by the American Battlefield Commission and it sits on ground given by France to the United States in perpetuity for this purpose.

Upon our return to the the high school, we ate lunch in the school cafeteria (except for a few students who went with their school partners off campus). Then we went to classes and Madame even got to teach two hours of English to the same students who came to Westmoore last year: Mathilde, Eren, Lucas, Matthieu, Laurine, Chloé, Hélène, Alexandre, Adrien, Kevin, Gabriel, Charles, et al.

All in all, despite some travel fatigue, we had a great day and learned a lot!

On est arrivés!

After a frightening, sad, and turbulent week, when school had ended far too abruptly and our community was literally torn to shreds, the French students of Westmoore gathered on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm with Ms. Worster and Madame Robillard at the airport and they were joined by Monsieur and Madame Tarter with their students from Moore High and Southmoore. The journey began with the usual bagage and boarding pass stress, then tearful yet happy farewells. As soon an the group made it through security to the other side, we began to develop bonds and become one cohesive group. Everyone got an assigned number in French to help us easily keep track of our group. 

The flights from OKC to Minneapolis and from Minneapolis to Paris were smooth and uneventful. Some students were able to sleep during the international flights, others were not. The flight was not full, so we were able to spread out a bit. The service was excellent, we could select movies to watch on individual viewing sets at each seat, and the food was passably good. For the record, Madame got close to six hours of sleep on this flight! (As she has predicted!)

Once on the ground in Paris, everything went smoothly, but it was hectic and we had to keep a pretty pace going to get from  point A to point B to point C, etc. Everyone's bags came through just fine. We figured out the system for purchasing our subway tickets at the automatic booths, we made it to the North train station in Paris, purchased our tickets for Montdidier, and finally had time to sit, eat, and relax for about an hour. 



Then, the students got to learn how to pull off train travel in France: Get the ticket stamped, walk the length of the platform to the 2nd class cars, load up the bagage, get settled. The train trip was smooth and the rocking of the train with its smooth ride slowly convinced several travelers to catch a nap. Realizing that they were about to meet their host families and dive in to the deep end of French speaking, students were practicing high-frequency expressions and resolving questions related to their immediate personal needs.

The train station in Paris known as la Gare du Nord from which we took the train for Amiens.

The change of trains in Amiens happened very quickly, with a lot of luggage hauling, but we made it with time to spare on our final train. Despite a slight delay halfway to Montdidier that made us a half hour late, when we finally arrived our host families and familiar friends from last year's visitors to Westmoore were there to greet us with a banner for our Franco-American partnership, cheers, and hugs and smiles all around.

The train station in Montdidier where we arrived and met our hosts.

Exhausted, we each scattered to the four winds with our hosts. Now, we are settling in, getting showered and fed, and hopefully waiting for a normal bedtime hour to arrive so we can get some much needed sleep!

2012 Pearson Global Learning Fellowship

In a few short hours I will leave for China. Including layovers, it will be close to a 24-hour journey. I am grateful for the chance to see China --- I never thought I would get to go there! Here is a list of my pre-departure impressions:

Biggest fear: Not surviving the experience
Greatest hope: Making lifelong friendships with people in my group or with Chinese people I meet
The one thing I'm really looking forward to seeing: The Forbidden City
The one thing I will not do: Eat grasshoppers
The one thing I simply must do: Experience an authentic marketplace
The one thing I am not looking forward to: Getting sick

Please follow my adventures here and let me know your thoughts about all that I will share with you about this amazing journey.

Thank you to the NEA Foundation and the Pearson Foundation for this opportunity.

2012: A Year of Travels!

Madame is currently in Washington D. C. to learn about the educational tour of China she will be taking in June 2012. In fact, this will be a year of many travel experiences:

• February 2012: Washington D.C.
• March 2012: Picardie, France
• April 2012: Phoenix, Arizona & visiting students from Montdidier, France
• June 2012: China
• July 2012: Washington D.C. and (possibly) Haïti

The educational tour of China is for the 2012 Pearson Foundation Global Learning Fellowship. We will be learning about Chinese history & culture through an online college course and then touring Beijing and Shanghai, China. We will see the sites and visit schools while we are in China. It should be quite exciting!