winter 2007 - Concord Academy

“SA FrenchConnectionby Caroline Hughes ’08alut!” The French girls form acircle in the crowded hallway as Isqueeze my way to the middle. Igently approach every girl, walkingthe entire circumference of the circleto plant three kisses (right, left,right) on their cheeks. At an approximaterate of ten people, three kisseseach, two times a day (greeting andparting), I gave six hundred of thesekisses in my ten-day sojourn in LeChambon-sur-Lignon, France.In my French teacher Sarah Ismail’schapel of fall 2005, she spoke glowinglyabout Le Collège-LycéeInternational Cévénol, remarkingthat “Le Cévénol (as the school isoften called) is not a typical school inmany respects.” During World WarII, Le Cévénol housed Jewishrefugees, an unusual endeavor in thelargely apathetic nation. In recentyears, the region has sponsored aResistance museum, and two filmmakershave recorded their experiencesas refugees in the town.Madame Ismail visited this town onsabbatical in February 2004.“Having visited several Frenchschools, I felt that this one wasunusual,” she said, “not just for itsunique status and unusual history,but also because it treated the kidswith respect—sadly, not somethingyou see often in French schools.”The headmaster, a remarkable manoriginally from Togo, championedthe idea of an exchange, as did Headof School Jake Dresden. Thanks tomuch planning and a strong friendshipbetween Le Cévénol’s Englishteacher and Madame Ismail, sixCA students were able to travel toChambon in March 2006.CONCORD ACADEMY MAGAZINE WINTER 200726“Leaving behind the languageof your early selfhood allows a newstart,” she explained.