EMBASSY NEWSCENTRE

Embassy Stories

Ivoirian students talk with their peers in the United States (Photo: Yacouba Soro/US Embassy)

Technology Brings American and Ivorian High School Students Together

High school students in Winchester, Massachusetts realized they have a lot in common with their peers in Cote d’Ivoire.  The American students, who are all studying French, responded with élan and enthusiasm.  During two multimedia exchanges, the American high schoolers used their French skills to speak by phone and exchanged e-mails and photos via the internet with a group of young Ivorian lycee students.  Reactions on both sides of the Atlantic to the outreach programs were very positive and faculty members from the two schools agreed to coordinate a game plan over the summer that will establish a permanent link between Winchester High and the Lycee Sainte Camille of Abidjan.   “Superbe!” is how one eleve described her first-ever conversation with an American, while a Winchester teacher said her students were so excited with this extraordinary opportunity to meet and talk with French-speaking Africans.  A great start to a beautiful friendship.