Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

French teacher Valerie Verny leads 17 French exchange students in "The Star-Spangled Banner" during a Foothill School assembly.

French exchange students studied at Foothill School

Seventeen French students, two teachers and the principal from Saint Alexandre in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb of Paris, have been studying at Foothill School and staying with local families. The students, part of a French-American Exchange Program, left Monday after a three-week visit.

The group's Saratoga stay is an opportunity to discover a new culture, new customs and new people, said Foothill Principal Helen Sullivan.

The Foothill hosts have treated their visitors to a San Francisco Bay cruise, a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a walking tour of Saratoga, Western barbecues at Vasona Park and an all-school bowling party.

The French students will get a chance to return the hospitality in June, when 16 Foothill students will travel to France with two teachers, Mary Vinson and Denise Whitford, along with Barbara Dutra, the parent of an exchange student.

On the same day, nine students from Blue Hills School will fly to Montmorency, France, to be hosted by the families of 24 children who visited Blue Hills in March.

Preparations for the Foothill exchange began in fall 1996. An important part of the preparation has been a series of French studies classes conducted by Dutra and Corinne Dox, Sullivan said. Foothill students learned basic French language and studied the area they will be visiting. They also learned about the culture, food and traditions of the French people.

Each group of students will put on a performance in the community they will be visiting. They will be honored by the mayor, city council members and the board of education. The French students staged performances last week at Foothill School and were welcomed by Saratoga Mayor Gillian Moran.

Said Foothill Principal Helen Sullivan, "This is an incredible experience for the students from both countries to be able to create lifetime friendships and to gain an appreciation for beliefs and attitudes of students from another country."

The exchange program is administered by the Association of French-American Classes. This is the sixth year that Foothill has participated in the program.

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