English translation: Connecting Locally and Globally
Immersive language experiences are a regular occurrence and a cornerstone of the World Languages curriculum at MICDS. Our goal is to equip graduates with the 21st-century skills necessary to appreciate, work, and interact with people worldwide. Our Upper School AP French students recently enjoyed a Zoom visit with Clara Steyer, a French expat living in St. Louis who currently works in Washington University’s Office of Sustainability. AP French students are currently tackling an ecology unit that explores environmental challenges–and creative ecological solutions–from all over the world, focusing mainly on French-speaking regions such as Europe, Quebec, West Africa, and French Polynesia.
Steyer spoke (entirely in French) about her career path, which took her from urban planning and design studies in France to a one-year stint in Guadeloupe. There she helped plan urban infrastructure and then traveled to St. Louis, where she worked with a few different groups such as Gateway Greening before arriving at WashU. She shared with students the various sustainability initiatives at WashU and gave them concrete ideas about supporting sustainability, both as individuals and through advocacy. Steyer concluded by discussing multiple career paths in sustainable development. Then students had an opportunity to ask plenty of questions, all in French, of course.
Upper School World Language Teacher Steven Crumb said, “From my perspective, it was a unique opportunity for students to connect with a native speaker living in our community who is working to address local concerns that mirror the global issues we’ve been exploring such as environmental challenges and ecological initiatives. We intentionally design our World Languages and Cultures classes to help students connect what we study in class with things that are happening all around them, both locally and globally.”
Our students shared similar reflections:
“Participating in French the entire time was interesting because it took the skills we’ve been practicing for listening assessments, then made us apply the same techniques for a real-time conversation. The biggest takeaway from that presentation is that there is a human impact on environmental issues we have today; so often, climate change is said to ‘raise ocean levels,’ or ‘put a hole in the ozone layer,’ but we forget that there are humans impacted by these changes every day.” – Prithvi Dhanabal ’21
“The experience was a one of a kind opportunity, as our class was able to hear about what we are learning in class through the perspective of someone who has seen the impacts of climate change. Something that surprised me about her presentation was what she said about recycling, as the majority of people believe that recycling is the best thing we can do for the environment, but Ms. Steyer told us that recycling should really be our last resort and we should try to reduce the amount of waste we produce before trying to recycle. I really liked how Ms. Steyer gave us helpful, small changes we can make in our lives to be more environmentally friendly, as it motivated my classmates and me to make these changes in our lives. It was very cool to be able to participate entirely in French with Ms. Steyer, as we don’t really get to have many opportunities to interact with native speakers. Even on Zoom, I really enjoyed being able to learn from Ms. Steyer!” – Estephanie Estrada ’21
“It was really interesting to be able to interact with another French speaker outside of the realms of MICDS. Just by the nature of living in St. Louis, we don’t come in contact with francophone speakers very often, so it was really cool to learn more about the environmental initiatives in St. Louis that Ms. Steyer is a part of.” – Janie Guirl ’21
“Ms. Steyer’s presentation was a fantastic connection to our unit in AP French, as we were focusing on global approaches to sustainability. Participating entirely in French was definitely a challenge, but it was great to apply the vocabulary and concepts we learned in class to a real-world example. We even discussed as a group the benefits and drawbacks of possible sustainability initiatives and how they specifically could be applied in St. Louis. It’s really exciting to have Ms. Steyer and her colleagues doing such important, cutting-edge work right here in St. Louis!” – Fiona Richards ’21
Students truly enjoyed this rare opportunity to use their language skills as they listened to Steyer’s unique expat perspective on these issues and got to see their community through someone else’s eyes. Crumb remarked, “I was extremely pleased with the students’ level of engagement and the thoughtful questions they asked, concerning everything from her unique experience in Guadeloupe to her thoughts on the viability of electric cars.”
We appreciate Ms. Steyer’s visit and look forward to understanding more deeply how sustainability affects all of our communities across the globe.
Nous souhaitons à nos étudiants le meilleur car ils pensent localement pour agir au niveau mondial! (Wishing our students the best as they think locally to act globally!)
