Bienvenue à nos étudiants d’échange! It was a joy to welcome 19 exchange students from Institution Sainte-Marie-Caen, our sibling school in France. For 11 days, the exchange students and their host families immersed themselves in a global learning opportunity, enjoying new school and life routines, sightseeing, and engaging in recreational activities around St. Louis. Several of our French students will travel to France in January for the same immersive experience with their host families.
Erin Hamill, Director of Global Learning, said, « It was wonderful to welcome our exchange students from Caen for the first leg of our seventh MICDS-ISMC exchange. The exchange students from both schools, host parents, and even many MICDS students not participating in the exchange made very strong connections during their short stay here. These friendships and opportunities to learn about other cultures and understand and appreciate our differences and similarities are what make exchanges so important in helping our students on their journey to becoming global citizens. »
Each French exchange student was paired up with an MICDS buddy and host family, and everyone enjoyed a busy schedule that was thoughtfully planned to help the guests best experience life in St. Louis and education at an American school. The itinerary included the following highlights:
- A Welcome Reception/Orientation
- Five days of attending classes while shadowing MICDS students in the Upper and Middle Schools, including one day which included the Fête de la Gastronomie (French Food Festival)
- Field trips with and without their MICDS buddies to Cathedral Basilica, National Blues Museum, Missouri History Museum, an escape room, and the Gateway Arch
- Living with an MICDS family for 11 days and experiencing what St. Louis and home life have to offer from the host family’s perspective
- Attending MICDS sporting events such as soccer and football and the Upper School play, The Art of Dining
- A farewell dinner on the eve of the visiting students’ return back to France
About halfway through the visit, the French exchange students were part of our annual Fête de la Gastronomie with Upper School French classes. For this international celebration, students prepared classic dishes from France or other French-speaking regions and countries, such as North Africa and Canada, to share with their classmates. After sampling the dishes and milling around with a Spotify playlist of French dance music in the background, the students played Kahoot trivia about the origins of French foods. In each class, faculty and staff volunteer judges awarded prizes to the junior chefs for best presentation, most delicious, most audacious, and best overall. Upper School French Teacher Steven Crumb said, « This is a fun annual event, and this year, we were delighted to have the French exchange students with us to participate in eating and having a good time. »
We asked two exchange students for their thoughts on the fête. Caen sophomore Lênis Mohammedi said, « I like the fact that everyone knows you are French, and they try to talk to you in French. They are interested in our language and cultures. » When asked if he enjoyed the food, he said yes and described it as « a bit too sugary. » Another Caen student, Lêna Angel Dit Hugo, shared, « It’s been the best experience. The interaction is very good because I’m not very good at English. My favorite food was the waffle and Nutella. »
During the Middle School visits, the French exchange students similarly impacted our younger students. Middle School French & Mandarin Teacher Zuowei Chang shared, « My students got the chance to talk with native French speakers and enjoyed using the language in real-life situations. » Kayra Metan ’29 added, « It was a beautiful experience. It was nice to hear other people from other countries talk fluently in their language, especially when they were conversing with one another, even though I didn’t understand a lot of what they were saying. »
Our host students shared a few personal reflections about the exchange program:
« I have never been part of the French exchange program before, but it is so fun! Something I enjoyed most about being a host family was getting to know my student and becoming close with her. I also enjoyed being able to meet all of the other students as well. My student, along with the others, kept commenting on how much bigger things are in America than in France. It was very interesting to hear how life is different in a different country from the perspectives of people my age. I can’t wait to go to France and stay with my student, meet her family, and see how life in France is different from that in America! » – Emily Rotskoff ’27
« The most memorable moment during the French Exchange program was the field trip we all shared to the Basilica, National Blues Museum, and escape room. I had never been to the Basilica and Blues Museum so getting to explore them with the French students was super fun. Another part is how kind and friendly the students were and how willing they were to talk to us and be friends! » – Maahi Saini ’27
« I have never hosted before, so everything was new to me. But for any people who want to host, don’t be afraid to try! The exchange students are here to experience the culture and the school, so you don’t have to organize any huge outings for them. The most interesting part of the exchange so far has to be how introspective it is because sometimes students will ask, ‘Why is this done this way?’ And the answer will be, ‘I don’t know.’ I haven’t been in this program before, but I am already very excited to go to France. » – Andrew Li ’28
« I have really enjoyed participating in the French Exchange Program so far. I had a wonderful visit hosting Anna. It took a few days to get to know each other, but now we have become good friends. By hosting Anna, my family and I learned more about the French language and culture, which was really interesting and fun. I enjoyed getting to know all of the French exchange students and showing them my school and city. One fun thing we did was go to my lake house, where we made s’mores and painted pumpkins. I can’t wait to go to France in January and reconnect with Anna and all of the exchange students! » – Elena Garcia ’27
« I have been to France before but did not know my partner until he arrived in St. Louis. We had communicated over the phone, but that was the only contact we had. I enjoyed hosting my exchange student, Lilian, and would gladly host him or another student again. Being the host was a great experience to have. It not only let Lilian practice his English but also allowed me to practice my French. Being able to host an exchange student gave Lilian a chance to experience St. Louis while still feeling like he was at home. While he was here, we did a lot of activities, such as going to the Zoo, Lone Elk Park, and a mountain coaster in Grafton. My favorite activity was going to a haunted house, and playing Mini Golf with Jonathan and Baptiste. Hosting a student was an amazing experience, and I would strongly suggest that people try it. » – Daniel Kuhlman ’27
« I have never been on the French exchange, and I was so excited to meet Valentine and have her stay with me. I most enjoyed the experiences and friendships that we got to make. It was so cool to watch all the French and American students come together. Doing activities and being able to help Valentine experience American life was so fun, and I’m so glad I was able to be there for her. I know multiple exchange students who said the biggest difference was that in America, everything is bigger! When we took them to the movie theater, they were shocked by the size of it, which I thought was funny. They were also shocked by the size of our grocery stores, like Target and Costco, and they took pictures of it like a tourist attraction, which was really funny! The biggest advice I would give to a host family is just to be open and patient with your exchange students: it might take a couple of days for them to open up to you because they are in a foreign country and staying at a new person’s home. If you understand this and allow them to adapt to American life, I think it will definitely help you connect easier with the exchange students. » – Maddie Karr ’26
Upper School Dean and French Teacher Daniel George is an ardent supporter of international exchange programs and shared, « What was extraordinary about the French students this year was their willingness to participate fully in class and in our community. The French students attended varsity and JV games and assemblies and hung out with MICDS students who weren’t formally participating in the exchange program. The highlight for me was their participation in preparing meals for la fête de la gastronomie. Their participation in our community, and that of our amazing MICDS student and parent hosts, further highlights the need to preserve and enhance our foreign exchange programs. »
Lêna and Lênis found the experience « very cool » and enjoyed visiting St. Louis. Lênis added, « I was most looking forward to discovering more about the American culture and this language. My favorite class I attended was Spanish. If I had one word to describe our trip, I would say ‘freedom.’ You Americans have so much freedom that we, as French students, don’t have. And it’s really what I will remember. »
Hamill added, « Tears were shed at the airport dropoff on Wednesday, but there was also much excitement and anticipation to see each other again in January when our students travel to France for the second leg of the exchange. »
Thank you to our Middle and Upper School French teachers, Ms. Hamill, the gracious MICDS host families, and the following MICDS students who were involved in this exchange:
Grace Goggins ’28
Andrew Li ’28
Lucy McKean’28
Zoya Ansari ’27
Elena Garcia ’27
Maddie Karr ’27
Daniel Kuhlman ’27
Harper Martin ’27
Maggie McGinness ’27
Emily Rotskoff ’27
Maahi Saini ’27
Chase Segal ’27
Jonathan Weiss ’27
Aaheli Arora ’26
Becca Frazier ’26
Chloe Kolman ’26
Georgia Lochhead ’26
Emerson Pook ’26
Katie Sheehan ’26
Gabriel Sedighi ’26
Au Revoir to our enthusiastic and delightful exchange student counterparts! Jusqu’à ce que nous nous revoyions!