“Nerd” Alert and the Mayor's Greetings

Before we even set foot inside Lycée Jules Ferry, I assumed that this school would be the French equivalent to a trade or vocational school in the United States simply because a few teachers at the Lycée International in St. Germain described it as a technical school. I continued to hold this view for the first hour or so upon arriving at the urban campus setting, but I quickly realized that this school is more than a typical lycée and that it is actually quite an amazing place. Lycée Jules Ferry is both a traditional lycée, but there is also a post-secondary education program available, classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles (CPGE), which is a very intense two-year program that students enroll in with the intention of moving onto a grandes écoles, which literally translates as a “higher school”, upon completing the program. CPGE programs focus on skills that will help students succeed in the realm of science & engineering, business, and other civil servant careers. Once I put my preconceived notions aside, I realized that this school is rich with Project Based Learning activities that require students to engage in critical thinking. One such project the students were working on revolved around figuring out how to use solar panels in the most efficient and effective way.

Later this evening my peers and I attended the annual vœux du maire in Noisy-le-Roi, which translates as the mayor’s greetings for the New Year. This was a pretty formal event for the most part and was pretty entertaining for the most part except for the fact that I did not understand a word of the Mayor’s speech since it was in French! The general purpose for the event is for the Mayor to acknowledge significant individual contributions and major improvements to the community over the past year. In addition to the acknowledgements, the event also celebrated Noisy’s twin city program with Albion and Godella, Spain.