Louisiana Escadrille Student Blogs from France

SHREVEPORT, LA — I just had my first day in Rennes. It is a very beautiful city, full of history.

So begins M.A.T. student Nicole Horne's blog Escadrille Louisiane detailing her travels in Rennes, France, as part of her Louisiana Escadrille experience. Nicole along with the other nine Escadrille students will spend the year living and teaching in Rennes before returning to Louisiana to teach French.

Nicole Horne

"Knowing another language has always been something magical to me, like possessing the key to a secret world no one knows about," said Horne. "I am a firm believer in the strong correlation between language and worldview. My awareness of their influence on one another has not only pushed me to progress in language learning but has also had a profound effect on me as a person."

Sponsored by NOLA Française, Horne's blog is designed to be a travel log as well as a tool in French immersion schools and classrooms in Louisiana. For this interactive component, Nicole will answer student questions about life in France, and go out into the Rennes community to provide the students with information. The blog will be written in both French and English.

A New Orleans native, Horne graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts honors degree in French. Historian and Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) president William Arceneaux recruited Horne to be a member of the inaugural Louisiana Escadrille class. Nicole and the other nine Escadrille participants completed a three-week session at Centenary this summer before departing for Rennes.

The Louisiana Escadrille is a new graduate education partnership that brings together Centenary College, CODOFIL, the University of Rennes, and the Consulate General of France in New Orleans. Participants in the Louisiana Escadrille are graduate students recruited by CODOFIL as exemplary potential teachers of French as a second language or teachers who would be qualified to use French as a medium of instruction for teaching other subjects. These students will complete teacher certification coursework through both Centenary and the University of Rennes, France, ultimately gaining a Master of Arts in Teaching from Centenary College.

For more information on how to incorporate Escadrille Louisiane into your classroom, please contact email.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 371 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.