High School French Students to "Invade" UH Manoa Campus

More than 400 high school students to visit UH Manoa for French Day on Nov. 12

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Marie-Jose Fassiotto, (808) 956-4171
French Division
Joan Debrah, (808) 956-8519
French Division
Posted: Nov 10, 2003

More than 400 public and private high school students will be visiting the University of Hawaiʻi‘s Mānoa campus on Wednesday, Nov. 12, to celebrate French Day with faculty and students of the UH Mānoa French Division. The event is an opportunity for the students, who represent over a dozen high schools from Oʻahu and Molokaʻi, to visit the campus and learn about language study at Mānoa.

"It‘s our way of supporting the French language teachers in the high schools and to help their students make a smooth transition to college," says Marie-José Fassiotto, UH Mānoa professor of French and one of the event‘s organizers. "These students will have a chance to meet UH students, explore the campus, and see what language learning is all about."

Among the full day of activities planned are visits to the computer and language labs and viewings of videos about the French Division‘s study abroad programs in France and Tahiti. A treasure hunt activity will get the students to explore the campus, and they‘ll also have a chance to play pétanque, the French version of lawn bowling. A performance by the UH Mānoa French choir, Chantons en Chœur, is planned as well as demonstrations of mime and fencing. Students will also learn about careers available to those who study French from various individuals, including a representative of the Peace Corps and the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature‘s assistant dean, Dr. Jean Toyama, a Roosevelt High School and UH Mānoa graduate.

French Day began in 2000 when the French Division recognized a need to bring the high school French language programs to campus. Since the original French Day, it has grown into a huge event with over 400 students estimated to visit this year. Co-sponsored by the Dean of the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature and the French Division, the event is also supported by UH Mānoa French students and faculty who raise money for French Day by sandwich and T-shirt sales during the school year.