By Elizabeth Keane, Features Editor
Being from Montreal, a French-speaking country other than France, French teacher Giselle Drpich is especially passionate about celebrating the culture from other places of the world.
Therefore, 35 flags of French-speaking countries were placed around the whole school for non-French students to find during French week. Students turned in these flags to Drpich to receive a reward of Bon Bon candy.
As for the rest of the week, Tuesday and Wednesday were celebrated with a Merci chocolate fundraiser where students could send a chocolate to their friends or teachers. The French bake sale sold croissants with Nutella in the foyer for students to purchase during lunch periods.
The French students participated in the week by speaking only French for the entire day on Wednesday. Their other teachers were told to initial a sheet to prove that they did so, in exchange for extra credit from their French teacher.
On Thursday, French club hosted a luncheon in the community room with activities and games for students to visit during their lunch period. To end the week, the whole school was invited to dress in french colors. To capture their creative outfits, a photo booth with props was placed in the cafeteria foyer.
Drpich and the French honors students were primarily in charge of organizing the activities of the week. French week for French students is normally complete with cooking crepes in the foods room after school and field trips to Chicago. French II goes to the French Alliance downtown to cook a traditional meal and watch a french movie, while French III & IV take a walking architectural tour in French.
“I want [French week] to bring awareness around school to all the beautiful countries that also speak French,” Drpich said.
Senior and AP French student Victoria Kuprewicz is a part of the new French National Honors Society that was instituted this year. According to Kuprewicz, this change will mean more supervision and involvement of underclassmen for the French club than past years. She also feels that French week activities were more interactive this year for students who don’t take the language.
Seniors each have different roles in the club to make events like French week run smoothly. As a service coordinator, Kuprewicz tries to bring the French culture from the community to Prospect.
“I hope these activities remind people that French is a thing, even though it’s a smaller program than Spanish,” Kuprewicz said. “I want kids to realize that French is fun too, and [I hope] that they will get more involved in French culture.”