French Club: A Year of Overcoming Adversity
By Jackson Nester
This past week I got the opportunity to sit in on a French Club meeting after school and it was a lot more eye opening than I could have ever thought. The love and passion the students have for not only the language, but the culture is real and something I would have never imagined had I not went. Most of these students would have gotten the chance to dive even deeper into French culture and language when they were scheduled to go to France last year during Spring Break.
Picture taken by Draven St. George
“Three days before we were scheduled to leave it was cancelled. We had our bags packed and everything,” said Madame Wright, the French teacher at Owasso High School.
I could tell the class was very sad and emotional about the trip when it got brought up in the meeting. They were set to visit our sister school in Chaumont, France, which would have been an amazing experience for the avid explorers of French culture in the club. However, COVID took that opportunity out like it did so many others. COVID has also had an effect on the amount of meetings French Club has been able to have and with distance learning popping in and out of the school year, the French Club has been limited to around a meeting a month.
Despite all the obstacles the French Club has had to face this year they have continued to meet up every month. At these meetings they discuss and celebrate whatever is happening in France at the time. For example, this month’s theme was centered around spring with events like Easter, Ash Wednesday and Lent. They also discuss the history of France and its native language which I found interesting when they discussed where some of the words and traditions originated from.
One example of these traditions is, “A tradition practiced on April Fool’s is where little kids stick paper fish on an adult's back and if they are successful, the adult has to give them chocolate.” Madame Wright explained.
Like I said in the beginning the passion these students have for French culture and language is amazing, but I couldn’t ignore the passion that Madame Wright also had for the French culture and language, which led to my question of why she started to teach French here at Owasso.
“I fell in love with the language and culture of France at a young age, so here I am teaching it.” Madame Wright expounded.
This shared passion and love for the French culture really intrigued me and made me realize the significance of other country’s cultures to us. So if you’re looking to explore other languages and cultures I would start right here with French Club who meet once every month after school.