Lynn Classical students visit French Embassy

LYNN – More than 40 Lynn Classical High School students visited the French Embassy in Boston late last month, joining high school students from across the state in celebrating French National Week.While hundreds of students were in attendance for the celebration of French culture and language, it was performances by three Classical students that brought the house down as seniors Rachel Dunnigon, Crystal Castillo and junior Ivanna Solano performed poetry and music in French for the audience.The trip is part of a partnership between the French Embassy and the high school, formulated last year with the help of Department Head Youness Elbousty. Members of the embassy have been to the school last year and again this year and welcomed the Classical students for the first time at the French National Week celebration.”The best thing about learning French is the communication aspect of the language,” said Elbousty. “It is good for them to get out there and experience the language. It is nerve wracking but as educators we have to send a message that it is important and you can do it.”The three students who performed had been practicing their reading and singing for weeks, but were still nervous getting up on stage to perform in an unfamiliar language.”It was a little nerve wracking at first, but once I started reading and realized all of us were up there together I wasn’t as nervous,” said Castillo. “But what was really great was when Rachel started singing, the crowd woke up as soon as she started. It was really great.”Students were also inspired by the embassy speakers and by seeing other students from across the state who were just as interested in improving their language.”It was nice to see other students all over Massachusetts who had to write poems and nice to see what they did,” said Solano. “It was a really cool event, everyone was just having fun with it.”The speakers were very inspirational, they motivated us and they spoke about how it is OK for us to speak in different (French) accents because, in the end, we are all speaking the same language.”Elbousty, who is taking a group of students to France this summer, is a big advocate of teaching out of the classroom and says the French National Day was a great opportunity to introduce students to French culture first-hand.”It was good for us to have students out of the classroom,” he said. “To have to go (participate) in an event like this with 400-500 students and do well.”Elbousty and the students were presented with a certificate of merit to hang in the school.