His Excellency Philipe Étienne visiting with Myrtle Place Elementary students.
The U.S.-French Ambassador His Excellency Philipe Étienne visited Myrtle Place Elementary, one of LPSS’ longest running French immersion schools.
His Excellency learned that the staff at Myrtle Place Elementary helped the cultural attaché for the French Consulate and his family relocate for a while until they were able to move back to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Ida in September. Knowing that French language is so important in our area, he chose to visit the campus as a thank you and to see first hand the lessons the children are learning.
His Excellency was greeted by the third-grade class who sang “La Seine” by Vanessa Paradis about the beautiful and romantic river in Paris. Following the tour, student Galilea Galvez presented the Ambassador with an original painting by artist and PreK teacher Rachel Perry to commemorate his visit to the school.
Principal Catherine Bricelj of Myrtle Place Elementary says, “It was an honor for the French Ambassador to acknowledge our school and the work that happens here to promote the French language. We are truly a multicultural school that embodies the heritage of the many French-speaking countries. Today we displayed our flags representing the Acadians, the Creoles, Louisiana, Belgium, Cameroon, France, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Niger, and the United States of America.” The immersive experience provides our students with a rich educational environment.
The Ambassador commented that he was pleased to see the school highlighting so many countries and the various cultures where French is the primary language, as it is the official language for many countries beyond the borders of France.
We want to thank the students of Myrtle Place Elementary for such a joyful welcome and school administrators for allowing His Excellency and members of the consulate to observe the wonderful immersion learning occurring in our schools to preserve our French language.