Sample Chapter News

EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS CHAPTER

Corinne Étienne is the chapter’s new secretary [corinne.etienne@umb.edu].
Grand Concours Director, Janet Wohlers broke all records with over 6000 participants. There were a number of first place honors at the national level.
Janel Lafond-Paquin’s session on Le Petit Prince was recognized by the Northeast Conference as the Best Presentation; she will be honored at the 2005 ACTFL meeting in Baltimore.
Eastern and Western Massachsetts Chapters joined forces with the AATG at the MaFLA 2004 conference to sponsor a musical presentation by Strasbourg performers Jean-Marie Hummel and Liselotte Hamm.
Hummel and Hamm will present a workshop on the music and poetry of St-Germain-des-Près during the 2005 MaFLA conference as well as perform.
Amale Bourhim of ETRA V, Paris will animate a French Immersion Day on le Maghreb as well as present a three-hour workshop on “Decoding the DaVinci Code.”
At the MaFLA Summer Institute, directed by Joyce Beckwith, Brian Thompson animated an evening of French Karaoke sponsored by this chapter.
In cooperation with the French Library and Cultural Center/Alliance Française, the chapter sponsored a full-day “Atelier pédagogique sur la musique” with guest lecturer Frédéric Bresson from the Alliance Française in Paris. Other presenters were Emmanuelle Berbonne, Boston College, and Brian Thompson, UMASS-Boston.

METROPOLITAN NEW YORK CHAPTER

The chapter co-sponsored the Jules Verne Contest, organized by Fabrice Jaumont of the French Embassy. Chapter President Françoise Santalis spoke at the awards ceremony on Jules Verne as a precursor of many modern inventions.
The annual Gala included a lecture by Jeanine Plottel, retired from Hunter College/CUNY Graduate Center, on Jean-Paul Sartre. Keynote speaker, Serge Bellanger, President of the Franco-American Chamber of Commerce in the U.S., spoke on “Économie, culture , et communication dans le contexte transatlantique d’aujourd’hui.” In addition, there was a musical program by Belgian singer Eddy Barsky using the songs of Jacques Brel.
Ambassador Ridha Bouabid, permanent representative of the Organisation international de la Francophonie to the UN, Alessandra Benedicty, Atachée aux affaires éducatives à la Délégation du Québec, and Bertrand Murget of the French Cultural Service attended the annual Distribution des Prix.
Whitney Buckholz received a scholarship to study for one month in Morocco at the awards ceremony, thanks to Ambassador Bouabid.
Diane Paravasian and Evelyn David are the chapter Advocacy representatives.
Anita Cipriani and Françoise Santalis are the Mentoring representatives. They will also work on recruiting new members.