2024 French American Friendship Contest

The contest is open to all high school students learning French (grade 9 and up) from public and private schools in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Students participate in groups of three. The members in each group must be from the same institution. Groups can be made up of students from grades 9 to 12. No minimum level is required in the mastery of French. However, all students participating in the contest must all be receiving French- language instruction in their school.

High school students who participate in the contest are responsible for forming their own groups.

Groups must be composed of no more and no less than 3 students to be able to participate in the competition. It is allowed for students to ask for the help of another student for the artistic production, but that student would not be able to go to France for the trip.

If there are more than 3 groups interested in submitting a production, we recommend that teachers ask the students to write a presentation note of the project, arguing that it complies with the objectives of the competition. Students could accompany this presentation note with first sketches of their project if they wish and/or if the teachers deem it necessary. The teachers will then be able to choose 3 of the projects to be produce and, eventually, choose one to represent the school. Ideally, this note should be written in French, however we leave it up to the teachers to choose the language.

In the eventuality that your school is situated on multiple campuses, we ask that you still only submit on final project to represent all campuses.

For the 3 phases of the project, students will have to submit a rendering in English and/or French. During the first phase of selection within the schools, if there are more than 3 groups interested in submitting a production, we recommend that teachers ask the students to write a presentation note of the project, arguing that it complies with the objectives of the competition. Students could accompany this presentation note with first sketches of their project if they wish and/or if the teachers deem it necessary. The teachers will then be able to choose 3 of the projects to be produce and, eventually, choose one to represent the school. Ideally, this note should be written in French, however we leave it up to the teachers to choose the language. After the school’s selection, the school will submit the project chosen. This project should be accompanied by a finalized note, written in French and English, in which must appear the approach, the intentions, the links of their project with the objectives of the competition. Finally, during the final phase of selection by the jury, the 15 groups will present in French in front of them. In the eventuality that students do not feel comfortable in their French oral skills, the presentation can simply be one of the group members reading the previously submitted finalized note.

No minimum level is required in the mastery of French. However, all students participating in the contest must all be receiving French-language instruction in their school.

The art forms that can be used for the project are as follows, with the understanding that several forms can be used simultaneously in the same project: • Graphic arts (painting, drawing, etc.) Photography Digital Arts Sculpture & Installations Handicraft Comics Music Writing Performing arts (theatre, dance, circus, etc.) Audiovisual & Cinema

To produce the works, a multitude of resources of various kinds are made available to students so that they can discover, learn, and be inspired. These include handwritten, digital, artistic, and historical resources such as books, audiovisual content (videos, reports, films, interviews), works of art (paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc.) or historical documents and archives (letters, objects, etc.). In addition, students will be able to consult recorded webinars given by subject matter experts specifically for the contest.

The presentation note of the project submitted by the students to their teacher must contain elements that place the project they wish to carry out in the context of the French and American friendship. Students must also include an argument justifying the relevance of the project to the objectives of the competition. This note can be accompanied by the first sketches of the project if the students wish and/or if the teachers deem it necessary.

Before March 30, 2024, schools must submit the project they have selected to represent their institution to begin the selection phase of finalists conducted by the Services of the Consulate General of France in Boston.

If the students were to produce a statue or a painting or any other project that cannot be simply uploaded online, they should submit pictures and videos so that we can review them. If the project was to be chosen among the last 15 and presented to the jury, we will reach out to you directly to think through solutions to bring the project, for the occasion, to the French Residence.

The people who will participate in the organized trip to France are the students who are members of the three groups that have won the competition. Each group will be accompanied by their French teacher. Total 9 students and 3 teachers will go to France on this occasion. Due to logistic aspects and the cost of accommodations around the dates of the trip, no other chaperones can accompany the group while in France. A chaperone can only go on the trip if none of the French teachers at the school are able to accompany the students.

There is no issue with that they can participate in the trip if they do not make other plans for those dates and can make it to France from the 1st to the 7th of June 2024.

In 2024, the Franco-American Friendship Contest will be held for the first time. In this sense, the dates of the 200th anniversary of Lafayette's trip to the United States and the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings mark important moments in the Franco-American relationship, which we wish to highlight in a pedagogical, educational, and artistic context.