Upper School French Club Hosts Inaugural Fair

By Sophie Boyatt ('26), Student Contributor

When the other French Club officers and I sat down at the beginning of the school year, we weren’t sure how to get more people to join our club. Joining a club can be a big commitment, especially if it is one that meets regularly.

Not only did we want to highlight the French Club, but also the amazing French curriculum. Our French teacher and club sponsor, Madame Marion Covington, is originally from France and has taught us so much about not only the language but the culture. The three of us wanted to emphasize this learning opportunity and the French Club’s name, so we decided to plan a big event at the end of the year. We came up with an idea to showcase a “taste” of France through planning a French Culture Fair.

We held the inaugural event on Friday, March 28, on the SAA front lawn. We had 9 stations with each one offering a wide variety of fun activities. We had sweet and savory French foods and treats, an art station, French trivia, and even a dictée. A dictée is where an individual says a small paragraph in French and the players try to spell the sentence. We also had two French games that are special to Madame Covington, as she grew up playing them.

But the real winner of the stations was the crêpe station! We made it a little more interesting by having students flip the crêpe in a pan while holding a coin in their left hand for good luck. This fun addition created a crowd, and it taught them more about French culture and tradition.

Overall, it this event was incredibly fun to plan and ended as quite a success. It gave everyone the opportunity to see what the French Club is all about-and might have interested them in joining. My goal in being a French Club officer is to grow our club in a way that is entertaining and relatable. I think my team and I did a great job at getting our club’s name out there. The fair was a fun way to spend a Friday, and I would look forward to doing it again next year and continuing to spread the word about the French Club!