French Students Add Flair to the Festival of Nations

Almost twenty students in Frances Chevalier's Advanced Composition, Coversation, and Translation course contributed to the Crown Point (NY) Historical Society's Festival of Nations. Students researched Champlain's exploration of New France, the French heritage of the Champlain Valley region, and the relationship between the native Americans and early French explorers. They prepared French lessons and visual aids and learned early French songs that were popular at the time of Champlain's arrival to the region. During the Festival, September 15-17, 2006, the students and Professor Chevalier performed French songs, judged an art and sculpting contest for middle schoolers, taught French language lessons, and gave tours of the Champlain Memorial and the attached sculpture by Auguste Rodin, "La France."

"The students performed superbly, giving tours of the Champlain Memorial, instructing in French, and judging the sculpture contest," said Michelle Barber, Service-Learning Coordinator. "Our students seemed to enjoy the day, as did the youth and their parents participating in the Festival. I could tell it was a success when, on numerous occasions, Fran's students asked me if there were other service-learning projects in which they or their classes could get involved."

Class Syllabus.