Taupō French students looking for community help

A Taupō-nui-a-Tia College teacher hopes people will channel their inner language learners to help a group of students make an overseas trip.

Next April, 31 French and history students will make the journey to France for 16 days.

Travel and other expenses mean the trip comes with a high cost per student, with two teachers and three parent helpers also accompanying them.

Students have begun fundraising for themselves and others, taking on part-time jobs in local shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as organising a car wash and helping at the Taupō marathon.

French teacher Christine Feuillade is pitching in to help by running a six-week French refresher course, aimed at adults who haven’t exercised their language muscles in a while.

Starting on October 26 and costing $150, the evening classes at Taupō-nui-a-Tia aim to boost confidence and help people regain the basics, from greetings to all-important food ordering skills.

Feuillade said she was happy to help because there were so many benefits to making a trip like this one, including building personal and social skills, gaining intercultural understanding and developing a deeper understanding of self and one’s own culture.

“Visiting such places deepens the knowledge of our tamariki and [their] understanding of different cultural perspectives.”

Feuillade said she was told by one student who had been on a similar trip, “You’re more about others than yourself when you come back.”

The trip will take place next April, with students visiting a wide range of different historically and culturally important sites, from the Mont St Michel to Arras and Messines.

They will also hop over the border to visit the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres.

It won’t be all academic, though, with some downtime opportunities including paddleboarding and a theme park trip on the itinerary.

Taupō-nui-a-Tia College is also hoping business sponsors might step forward to help out with the cost of buying hoodies for the students to wear on the trip.

They will act as a sort of uniform, with the college and sponsors’ names printed on them.

Feuillade said this will make it easier to keep students safe by making them easy to spot when out and about.

Students will also be spending some time with their sister school in Les Sables d’Olonne, whose students visited Taupō earlier this year.

For more information about the French refresher course, contact Christine Feuillade at christine.feuillade@taupocollege.co.nz or call 021 029 1922.

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