Twenty-seven East students returned home yesterday, April 2, after spending 10 days in Courbevoie, France, a suburb of Paris. The students traveled to France as part of an exchange program, which is held almost every two years here at East. This year’s trip was the thirteenth one since the trip originated in 1990.  The recent exchange program started when East students hosted 1 of 35 French students, who traveled to America from France on February 28.

“It was really cool to get to know someone from a different country,” said Marina Ceneviva (’14), who participated in the exchange program.

While the French students were here in America, they attended school at East for one day, but spent most of their time visiting American landmarks in Washington D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.

The French students returned home on March 12 and the East students traveled to France on March 22. While they were in France, East students visited Paris, the Loire Valley and the Palace of Versailles. They also attended Bateau-Mouche, a boat ride on the Seine River. The exchange was a time for students to immerse themselves in a different culture as well as practice their language skills. Students were encouraged to speak in French as often as possible while visiting France.

“[In this experience], you are putting the lessons you learned in school to use,” said Dr. Lynch, a guidance counselor and one of the organizers for the exchange program.

This memorable trip was opened to any student taking French, no matter the grade or skill level.  All students from French 1A to French 5AP had the opportunity to participate in the exchange program.