The French Foreign Exchange Program with our sister school in France began on Oct. 17, with French students arriving at the airport that night. French exchange students Charlotte Poulton, Lucie Feron, Inès Barillon, and Marie-Anaïs Alzetta will then be here with their host families until Nov. 3 when they will return back home. Juniors Caroline Ehren, Bridget Schumm, Peyton Wade, and Phoebe Mullen will visit France from July 1 to July 20.

“I think it’s really important to be able to travel to other parts of the world,” Mullen said. “It really helps people expand their worldviews.”

Mullen went to Académie Lafayette grade school, where she learned to speak French and continued her learning here. In sixth grade her class visited France, that was her first time there.

“One of the deciding factors of me coming to Sion was the foreign exchange program,” said Mullen.

Mullen is hosting Inès Barillon from Évry, France where she goes to Collège & Lycée Notre-Dame de Sion Evry, our sister school in France. Mullen and Barillon meet at the airport and had their first day of school together Oct. 18. Barillon has been to the United States, specifically New York, three times.

“I want to see American football, because my friends like football,” Barillon said. “I am excited to see the city, the parks, and museums.”

She knew of Kansas City before she came here and decided to ask her parents to go on this trip after her teacher told her about the foreign exchange opportunities. Barillon also saw this as an opportunity to better herself.

“I wanted to come here to work on my English,” Barillon said.

The foreign exchange program happens every year and has programs with our sister schools in Costa Rica, France, and Australia. The foreign exchange students from France were welcomed at the quarterly Grande Assemblé.

Counselors have information about the exchanges. If interested in the French exchange in particular, French teacher Liz Bono has specific details about the trip.

“If you want to be involved there are limited spots and we look at grades, continuing in French, and teacher recommendations,” Bono said.