APCS students meet with French students on field trip to Arnaudville

What do you get when you cross a south-central Louisiana high school student with a north-west France student?

Un bon temps, mes amis (A good time, my friends).

Students in Sheldon Roy’s French class at Avoyelles Public Charter School in Mansura welcomed high schoolers from the French province of Brittany (or Bretagne) who were in the state as part of a study of the Atchafalaya Basin eco-system.

The basin starts at Simmesport in Avoyelles Parish and includes parts of eight parishes to end at Morgan City. It is the largest wetland swamp in the nation, with 260,000 acres, and is best known for its cypress-tupelo swamps.
The two groups of high schoolers met April 12 on a field trip to Arnaudville.

“My students learned a little more French and the Breton students learned a little more English,” Roy said.

He added that seeing students who are so different in some ways, yet alike in so many more, proves that people are basically the same no matter where they come from or what language they speak.

As part of their science and conservation curriculum, the Breton students studied the ecology of the Atchafalaya Basin before traveling to Arnaudville, where they were able to tour the basin firsthand.

Prior to the field trip to the NuNu Arts and Culture Collective in Arnaudville, Roy had his students research the Province of Brittany, the Atchafalaya Basin and practice their conversational French.

Roy expected his students to know about their soon-to-be new friends’ homeland, so the Avoyelleans studied Breton history, geography, culture, cuisine and industry.

Researching the Atchafalaya Basin seemed like a good idea, since it would be a little embarrassing for students across an ocean to know more about the basin that starts right here.

The day was filled with fun and educational activities that encouraged interaction between the Avoyelleans and the Bretons, including bourre card games, with all conversation in French, and learning about making pralines, native drumming and other musical instruments, fine arts, organic gardening, soccer and volleyball, blacksmithing and a presentation on climate change.

The day ended as most any day with teenagers does -- exchanging social media profiles and contact information.

“The students are still keeping in touch through social media,” Roy said.