Belgian Student Exchange a Success

The school community recently enjoyed the fourth Upper School Belgian exchange, with Parker families hosting 12 students and two teachers from the Institut du Sacré-Coeur in the small town of Barvaux, an hour outside of Liège for 10 days at the end of October into November.

 

Upper School French teacher Cynthia Marker began the exchange with lead Belgian teacher Françoise Ghyse eight years ago. Throughout the two schools’ relationship, Parker students have traveled to Belgium and welcomed Belgian students into their homes. The hosting opportunity was open to all Upper School students, and we were excited to have a mix of families with students in different language classes. It was the Belgian students’ first trip to Chicago, and they enjoyed touring downtown and getting to know their host families. The Belgian group also attended Upper School classes for two days and actively participated in French class special projects including visiting the zoo, creating French music playlists, conducting student interviews in French and designing their own Parker souvenir photo albums.

 

Thank you very much to all Parker families and administrators who continue to support this wonderful international collaboration. Merci beaucoup et vive la Belgique!