We are thrilled to announce that this very week (March 24-28) was “La célébration de la semaine de la Francophonie 2025”! The goals remained beautifully simple: to immerse our students and community in the beauty of the French language, celebrate the achievements of our students and faculty, showcase the growth of our French program, and elevate French beyond the classroom into the heart of our OJCS culture. The highlight, of course, was Francofête on Thursday, March 27th!
What was “La célébration de la semaine de la Francophonie 2025” at OJCS this year?
To set the stage, students were greeted each morning with a customized French music playlist and daily announcements en français, naturally!
This year’s international theme was inspiring and timely: “Dis-moi dix mots pour la planète,” encouraging our students to explore and deepen their ecological awareness through French. Here are the “dix mots” selected for 2025—each a vibrant entry point into environmental consciousness:
- Biome
- Butiner
- Canopée
- Conséconscient
- Débrousser
- Empreinte
- Glaner
- Palmeraie
- Solaire
- Vivant
On Monday, classes dove into special activities and engaging lessons around these evocative words, connecting French learning directly to global environmental responsibility.
Tuesday brought excitement as students participated in the beloved ‘Oui, Oui Baguette Café’ experience, featuring kosher French delights thoughtfully served by our Grade 7 students in the Makerspace.
Wednesday’s “Franco-foire” saw classes rotating through the school to enjoy French-themed activities, including karaoke, jumbo jeux, an obstacle course that promoted French language learning, French bingo, and a film screening.
Thursday culminated with our Francofête—a joyful showcase of student performances, songs, dances, and presentations celebrating the incredible progress our students have made in French. Parents were warmly invited to join us at 2:30 PM to experience firsthand the ‘joie d’apprendre’ that defines French learning at OJCS. And, don’t forget our Café Croissant for parents before and after the performances!
We closed out the week on Friday with a cozy session of French Reading Buddies, reinforcing the bonds of community and language.
Deep gratitude to our outstanding French faculty, especially Madame Wanda, whose leadership and vision continue to make this annual celebration meaningful and memorable.
Voilà! We invite you to peek into social media, class blogs, and student blogfolios, join the fun, and celebrate with us as we build another year of bilingual excellence at our proudly trilingual OJCS.
HUGE thanks and appreciation to Rob and Chelsea Levine who spent HOURS upon HOURS of their time contributing their ideas, physically making the decorations, and tons of other things behind the scenes to help raise this week in our school to the next level. Merci, merci, merci!
