A LONG JOURNEY: Foreign language department teacher and French Club sponsor Emily Dowd will be leading a group of Clarke Central High School students to France during spring break of 2015. “But it’s also not just for the language, it’s for other things too which is why people can be in the French club even if they’re not studying the language. So it’s just anybody who’s interested in exploring anymore about French culture,” Dowd said.
By VIOLET MERRITT – News Writer
A group of Clarke Central High School students are preparing for an upcoming trip to France in which they will immerse themselves in the country’s culture through the unique experiences the trip offers.
“I hope someday to become bilingual, with French being that second language,” sophomore Avery Warner said. “So it’ll be a really good opportunity to learn to speak French in a place where I can’t fall back on English.”
They are taking the trip through a travel abroad organization called Intercultural Student Experiences. The trip will take place during CCSD’s 2015 spring break over 10 days.
“Part of the trip is visiting monuments and museums and being a tourist in Paris,” foreign language department teacher and French Club sponsor Emily Dowd said. “But then the other half of it is a family stay.”
During the family stay, each student will stay with a thoroughly vetted family located in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France.
“(The students will) live with their family for four days and they’ll experience all the things a family would experience,” Dowd said.
Following the family stay, the group will reconvene, and remain in Paris for the duration of the trip, leaving time for the group to visit frequently-toured locations in the city.
“It will be a great experience for them, not only just to experience the culture, (but) to see a lot of the things that we’ve studied in class firsthand,” Dowd said.
