Newsroom

YMS Students Meet French Students

Yorktown Middle School (YMS) students enrolled in French I and II courses started the year exchanging letters with native French speakers currently enrolled at Crossroads School in Norfolk, Virginia. The students were able to exchange letters four times during the year. The French students shared that they were excited to know other Americans besides the ones at their school, especially some who live near an important historical location in which French soldiers played an important role.

The cementing element that helped make this pen pal project a true Transformative Learning Experience came about when all students involved met face to face at the YMS library. This encounter promoted students’ realization that different cultures, while seemingly the same, can really be very different. Students perceived that their approach to learning a second language had a concrete and attainable result. They were creating bridges by connecting with another world. This will continue after they leave the classroom or the country.