On Saturday, seven students and a teacher from La Rochelle, France arrived at BFA as part of a cultural exchange. The students are in “seconde,” which is the equivalent of grade 11 and hope to gain perspective on American education and practice their English language skills.
The exchange has been coordinated by World Language teacher Alana Torraca, who connected with François Tellier from Fénélon Notre Dame school late last year. Earlier this year, Monsieur Tellier met with Alana, Principal Tague, and Superintendent Kirsch to explore the possibility of an exchange.
“Everyone arrived safe and sound and jet lagged and have gone home with their host families. We are looking forward to seeing them at school on Monday.”
– Alana Torraca, World Language Teacher
Since that conversation Madame Torraca has found home stays for the students, arranged for student shadows and began communication efforts between both groups of students. Students met their host families on Saturday and spent the weekend with them.
“We exhausted her yesterday. We took her shopping. She showed us where she lived on Google maps. It’s great to have this opportunity to connect.”
– Sally Billado, host parent
Students will visit the State House with our Seniors this week and take in the Coffee House on Friday evening. We look forward to this experience for our students and school, and will provide further details about the adventure in a future blog post.
John Tague is the Principal of BFA Fairfax Middle/High School and is a regular contributor to THE FWSU STORY. You can follow him @jtague252
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