By Fatimah Noulati
Staff Writer

On February 11th, twenty Westford Academy students and two French teachers boarded a plane to France to take part in an exchange program in Rumilly, France. Back in mid-October, the Westford community welcomed twenty French students to America. The time they had here was successful and full of New England fun.

WA’s French program has taken trips to the country before, but with other schools rather than the Le Lycée Démotz de la Saller they attended this year.

According to WA’s exchange students and French teachers Jennifer Conti and Amy Moran, this was one of the most successful exchange trips the program has seen. Moran thinks the school was good match for WA because the school’s commitment to education was very similar to WA’s.

Their trip started in the town of Rumilly, a town located in the Rhone-Alpes region in southeastern France. WA students stayed with their exchange partners that lived in their Westford homes in October. Conti and Moran stayed with two teachers that had stayed with them in October as well.

The Westford group accompanied the French on their regular school days, which starts at 8  A.M., around the same time WA begins the school day. While the school day at WA ends at 2 P.M., the Catholic high school in Rumilly continues until 5:30 in the evening. However, the French students have many more breaks than WA students do.

Due to their long days at the school, the French students do not have after school activities like most American high schools. However, in their high school, they have already started focusing on specific subjects, similar to how American students pick majors in college.

While the WA students joined their exchange partners in their classes, so did Moran and Conti. They thought that the way the French teachers taught their students in Rumilly showed more focus on the students’ success, probably due to the school being private.

According to students, the lifestyle in France was much more “laid back” than here in the U.S. Senior Aditi Patil had many good things to say about her trip to France, including that everyone there was very nice and funny.

The teachers and students in France were very welcoming to the WA group. There was even a philosophy class set up for the WA students. Also, the chorus at the school invited WA chorus members to their class to sing.

“I feel like a great effort was made to make the exchange a success,” Moran said.

The students and teachers from WA spoke French almost the entire time and they did it well. Moran was told by multiple people in France how fluently her students spoke.

“The hardest part was trying to tell jokes in French because a lot of times the humor would be lost in translation and nobody understood what I was saying,” Patil said.

Rumilly’s winters consist of medium to low temperatures, but the WA clan at least escaped the freezing temperatures and snow in New England. They did not escape snow for the whole trip, however.

In the Alps surrounding Rumilly, the mountains are covered with snow, and the group was able to go snowshoeing there. This was Moran’s and some of the students’ favorite part of the trip.

After nine days with their exchange families in Rumilly, the WA group traveled about 330 miles to the city of Paris for the last three days of their journey. The teachers and students were amazed by all the beauty the famous city held and all of the art and sights they were able to see in such little time.

They visited the Louvre Museum, which holds the famous Mona Lisa painting. Popular sights such as the Eiffel Tower and the Love Lock Bridge were seen by the students and teachers as well.

Overall, the twenty WA students and two French teachers had a very successful exchange program this year. From pumpkin carving in New England October to touring around Paris in February, both ends of the exchange were full of excitement.

“Being able to immerse myself in a different culture was incredible,” said WA senior Natalie Bishop. “My French speaking activities have greatly improved, so I am very thankful to be a part of this experience.”