Towards the end of this school year, North Harford had the opportunity to host French exchange students for four nights. These guests visited NH while they were passing through the area during a trip across the United States.
French teacher Mrs. Larissa Arist mentions how her family “has hosted exchange students for short term for many years – maybe about ten years; students from Japan, Ukraine, [and] France, and we’ve all enjoyed the experience of that.” As a French teacher, she feels it’s important to “show my students that French is used outside of our community and that we can use that language to connect with people from around the world.”
Arist mentions that she communicates with an English teacher in a French school in the northeastern part of France, at a school called Lycée Vauban. In 2019, these teachers mentioned a trip where they passed through Harford County. Arist asked if they could stay with NH students to meet American students because she “thought this is a great way for students to be able to connect with real French speakers.” For this 2019 trip, she had a student volunteer, and it was a successful visit. When COVID-19 happened, people weren’t traveling for a couple of years, so another trip wasn’t possible.
This past year, a different teacher from the same school reached out to Arist and said that they were going through Harford County again. They wanted to stop North Harford again if they would be willing to host students again. Arist said, “I jumped at this opportunity, and it was a great experience overall.”
When the exchange students were in the school, she mentioned how having the students in the school was an amazing experience. Many students who aren’t even taking French got to interact with them in their classes, and NH’s French students got to see these exchange students in other classes that they took as well, or at lunch and after school at sporting events. She felt that it was really important for North Harford students to interact with people outside of our American culture and experience.
Host for the exchange students normally volunteer, Arist, “usually chooses through families of students that I’ve had for four years, because I’m the only French teacher here, so I’ll know the students and families pretty well by the student’s senior year.” Artist starts with her French four class to ask for volunteers. However, if there aren’t enough volunteers, she will go to French Three, and so forth. This year there were a couple of students from French two hosting as well, but it was completely volunteer work. Volunteers include seniors Aubrey Hyman, Ella Sotaski, Ella Appleby, Emma Hammond, and Kris Gray. Juniors Maggie Dawson, Isabella Kim also hosted, and sophomores Kelly Gale, Keegan Batchelder, Ben Grabia, Angie, and Kelly Ramos, as well as others.
Artist’s family and some students are taking a trip to France and Italy this summer. They are leaving this year on June 24, and ending the trip on July 6. Artist mentions how “we will be in France for a week and go to Paris, of course, and then the south of France, and then base on the Mediterranean, and then Italy.” They are partnering with Aberdeen High School and their students because Arist has a teacher friend who works there; she will take a group of her French students, while Arist will take a group of her own.
They aren’t technically visiting the exchange students because the group is on an organized trip with a specific route to take through a company. However, a few of the students have been talking to exchange students they met, and trying to figure out a way to meet up through the trip.
