Photo courtesy of Pauline Pauley
Lexington, Virginia – On parle français!
This is an important phrase for 60 Virginia high school students for the next three weeks at the Virginia Governor’s French Immersion Academy at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. Until July 12, the French Academy’s students will live their lives completely in French to boost their abilities to use the language.
Preston Pauley, a rising homeschool senior in Botetourt County, was among those who arrived in Lexington on June 21. After pledging to speak French exclusively, he and the other students will eat, sleep, and breathe en français.
The Virginia Department of Education sponsors five Governor’s World Language Academies each summer where students are nurtured and language skills are cultivated. Participating students were selected through a statewide competition. CBS News and USA Today have featured the Academies as examples of innovative world language programs.
The students will learn, not in the ordinary way with textbooks and videos, but by really using the language in the cafeteria, in the dorm, on the soccer field, as well as in the classroom. Academy participants attend engaging and creative classes each morning (including Saturdays) to encourage them to take an active part in their learning.
The language immersion extends beyond the classroom with afternoon activities such as cooking, sports, and visual and performing arts. Students’ writing and photography skills are developed through journals, blog entries, a digital yearbook, videos, weekly newspapers and a radio broadcast. All activities are hands-on and relevant, making language acquisition meaningful, practical, and lasting.
The Academy will be a truly unique endeavor, one that alumni often describe as unforgettable and among the best and most fun experiences of their lives.
~ Fincastle Herald staff report
