Freshman Amelia Bailly walks into her French 2 class, ready to collaborate with her peers in preparation for the upcoming class celebration. The French department is commencing the school year with an event called “Kermesse”, which celebrates French culture and the progress students have made this past year. The festivity will be held on April 22 in the auditorium and will include theater skits, poetry readings and recitals of songs written by the students.

To celebrate this event, the department is also putting together an art show, which will display student-made artwork based on French artists and will include a fashion show.

“Fashion is art, so everybody is going to have a costume influenced by a French designer, by an artist,” French teacher Elena Khylabich said. “So it’s kind of homage to the French artists and designers.”

Bailly said the fashion exhibition will focus on clothing of various ages in France.

“Each student, excluding those who choose to help with lighting, make-up, directing, music, etcetera, had to choose a time period and find fashion designers to get inspiration from,” she said. “After we got inspiration we had to put together an outfit from things we had already owned or from other students, so it’s been a really collaborative assignment and student-run.”

Bailly expressed concerns regarding preparation for the Kermesse event.

“I was absent when we first started prepping for the fashion show, so I was a little lost when I returned,” she said. “When I had to choose a time period, futuristic hadn’t  been chosen so I just went with it which I was skeptical about at first but I think it should be OK.  Because it goes in sequential order I go on stage last and by myself, so that’s nerve racking.”

Despite these obstacles, Bailly acknowledged that preparation for the event has been an exciting cooperative effort.

“Overall the assignment has been fun and it’s been bringing the class closer together as we have to collaborate to make sure it goes smoothly,” she said. “Throughout our research for our outfits it was really interesting to see the different styles that are more common in French fashion and how much fashion has affected the culture there.”

Khylabich noted that this celebration would be a remarkable learning experience for her students.

“If they are like French 3 ,who is writing their own songs, that will help them because they are learning the words, they are learning the language, they’re learning how to express themselves. That’s the basics,” she said. “And for all of them that’s the goal. The goal is communication and the goal is knowledge of the culture. Because it is very important that I am not just teaching them some verbs and conjugations. I am teaching them culture — how to become comfortable in the culture, and knowledge about the culture.”

By Ashvika Maddikonda