French Club Welcomes Exchange Students with Halloween Traditions
By Samantha Rogala, Staff Writer
The French club welcomed Sainte-Geneviève’s exchange students on Thursday, October 30, with a pumpkin carving party in the library. Madame Malinge, a French teacher and leader of French Club, set up the event to expose the visiting students to some of America’s traditions. Members of the French club paired up with the new students to cut, scoop, and carve the pumpkins.
Three French students, Edgar Hamelin, Apolline Legrand, and Garance Roques de Borda answered some questions while scooping out the inside of a pumpkin. Edgar claims that America is, “very new, very different from France,” where they don’t celebrate Halloween. The event was a great way to introduce the exchange students to fun Halloween traditions, and welcome them to Norwood High. “It’s so exciting! Seriously, I love it,” said Apolline.
Madame Malinge, who organized the event, expressed her excitement towards it. “I feel so happy for our world language students that they get to have real-world practice, make connections. They could be life-long connections. So I feel really happy for them and I remember what it was like for me when I was in their shoes, and how much I loved the experience.”
She thought the event would be a great way to display fun American traditions. “We were just trying to think of something they don't experience in their own culture...I think this is something they’re really enjoying" she said.