Sandy Creek Selected for Pilot French Program

Host ambassador Omari Allen (left) and school principal Roy Rabold presented André Peltier with a Student of the Week certificate and a book about Georgia to commemorate his visit.

A partnership between two schools, Sandy Creek High and Lycee Emmanuel Héré in Nancy France, promises to provide a unique learning opportunity for students.

Sandy Creek is one of seven high schools in the state selected by the Georgia Department of Education to participate in a pilot program aimed at bringing French students in contact with their counterparts in France. Sandy Creek was chosen because of its successful French program headed up by teacher Stephane Allagnon.

For one week last month, the school hosted a French ambassador student, André Peltier, from its partner school. Peltier stayed with Sandy Creek’s American ambassador student, Omari Allen.

Peltier spent his time learning all he could about the American school system. He says he was amazed to see how well everybody got along and the amount of respect between students and faculty.

French students at Sandy Creek seized the opportunity to increase their knowledge about France and its culture. By the end of the week, the students had hammered out details pertaining the schools’ partnership, and students from both schools began communicating with each other via the Internet.

The two schools will present the results of their partnership in May to the State Department of Education.

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Rising Starr Students Learn About French Child Who Helped Jews Escape the Holocaust

As students study the Holocaust, they often have the opportunity to hear from Jews who survived the horrific Nazi concentration camps or from those who were able to escape. Eighth graders at Rising Starr Middle got to hear a different perspective this year as told by the daughter of a French woman who helped Jews escape from Holocaust trains headed to concentration camps.

Mariella Crea, a speaker with The Breman Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Museum in Atlanta, told the students about her mother, Jacqueline, who at the age of 12, helped a number of Jews escape to safety in Switzerland. Crea’s great uncle Henri was a train station operator in France and knew precisely when every Holocaust train was due to arrive and depart. He felt compelled to help the Jews and used her mother, knowing no one would suspect a child, to hide them until the trains and guards left.

Crea recalled her mother’s story as it had been told to her since she was a child. Her mother led the escapees from the train station to a nearby water tower where they stood in water for hours while guards searched for them. The water prevented search dogs from picking up on their scent.

After the trains and guards left, her mother took the Jews to her home where they waited in a crawl space until it was safe for them to make their journey to Switzerland. Crea does not know exactly how many people her mother and uncle helped, but she said every one of them made it to safety.

Her uncle is no longer living. Her mother is alive, but has Alzheimer’s and can no longer communicate, so Crea tells her story to keep it from being forgotten. In fact, she is in the process of writing a book about it that will be geared toward middle school students.

Suzanne Carey, an eighth grade language arts teacher at the school, arranged for Crea to speak to the entire eighth grade.

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Sandy Creek Teacher Selected as Honored French Citizen

Sandy Creek High’s Stephane Allagnon is the latest person to be listed as an Honored French Citizen by the French Consulate, Southeast region.

Allagnon, a French teacher and foreign language department chair at the school, as well as president of the American Association of Teachers of French, now joins a growing list of other honorees from the region that includes the states of Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Allagnon is from the Roanne in the Loire region of France. He spent his childhood traveling abroad with his parents and developed a love for languages at an early age. He is fluent in English, Italian, Spanish and Latin. He wanted to share his passion for languages with younger generations, so naturally he decided to become a teacher.

After teaching for a while in Ireland, he and his wife, who is from Georgia, decided to return to the States and settled in Peachtree City. He started teaching at Sandy Creek in 1999, first Spanish and then French. He now teaches five French classes a day.

Allagnon says his goal is to teach his students more than the French language, he wants to them to know about the country’s culture as well. He does this primarily through literature and cinema. He also organizes field trips to France with his high school every three years.

His work with his students has been recognized by the many honors and achievements they have obtained. The latest being Iffie Awachie, a senior at Sandy Creek, who has been selected as French Senior of the Year by the American Association of Teachers of French. She will receive a medal and special recognition at the school’s Honors Night.

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Sandy Creek Students Meet French Ambassador

French students at Sandy Creek High had the honor of meeting and talking with French and German ambassadors during a discussion about the growing importance of European-U.S. relations on the campus of Georgia Tech January 28.

A total of 30 students from Stephane Allagnon’s French 3, 4 and 5 classes had the privilege of being among the capacity crowd that got to hear the discussion between His Excellency Ambassador Pierre Vimont of France and His Excellency Ambassador Klaush Scharioth of Germany about the growing need for greater understanding of European-American relations and the expanding reach of the European Union. The students also learned about the world of diplomacy and the lives and duties of two very important diplomats.

Following the two-hour discussion, the students were invited to a semi-private celebration at the Georgia State Capitol where 10 World War II veterans from the Southeast received the French Medal of Honor called La Légion d’ Honneur, the highest recognition awarded by the French government. The students talked to the veterans who shared their experiences and heroic actions that lead to them receiving the honor. They also took advantage of the opportunity to converse with the French ambassador in his native tongue.

“His Excellency congratulated their ability to speak fluent French,” says Allagnon. “We are very grateful to the administration at Sandy Creek and the French Consulate for allowing us to participate in such culturally enriching and relevant events.”

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Fayette Student Comics Win Awards at Competition

Being funny paid off big for one French student at Sandy Creek High.

Michelle Melear, along with 33 fellow French students from the school, participated in a cartoon competition sponsored by the French Consulate, Alliance Francaise and the American Association of Teachers of French, Georgia chapter. Melear finished second in the high school category and won several prizes including a full scholarship to attend a French Immersion Camp that will take place in February.

Two other Sandy Creek students also finished in the top 20. Meggie Foulk placed 18th and James Morgan 19th. High school students across six states submitted a total of 97 comic strips for the competition.

The comics were judged on text and quality of French, originality of the theme, storyline, quality of drawing, and use of color.

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Fayette County High School French Students Immersed in French at Rock Eagle

Pictured are (L-R) front row: Autumn Henderson, Dayna Gomes, Rose Wilmot. Back row: J.R. Glenn, Jaime Rivera, Franklin Lowe

Students in Madame Margaret Topp's French II class at Fayette County High spent a weekend of total immersion in the French language through the American Association of the Teachers of French (AATF) at Rock Eagle February 20-22.

They spoke only French at all meals, during sports and social/cultural activities and events.

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Allagnon to Preside Over Georgia State French Organization

Foreign language chair at Sandy Creek High, Stephane Allagnon, has been elected president of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), Georgia Chapter.

“This is certainly a honor for him and for Fayette County. I know he will represent French teachers well in Georgia,” says Cathy Geis, foreign language and social studies coordinator for Fayette County Schools.

As president, Allagnon will preside over meetings of the chapter as well as appoint the director of the AATF National French Contest, members of all special committees and the delegates to the national convention of the AATF. He will also be responsible for processing and ranking applications for the AATF summer scholarship as well as appointing directors to administer various state-level contests.

Allagnon replaces Dr. Kristin Hoyt of Kennesaw State University. His term will be for two years.

The mission of the American Association of Teachers of French, Georgia Chapter is to assist the national chapter in representing the French language in North America and encourage the dissemination of knowledge concerning all aspects of the culture and civilization of France and the French-speaking world to both schools and the general public.

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