Twenty-six students, who are a part of the French Exchange program, will visit St.-Etienne, France to learn about the culture and linguistics, and also to reconnect with their French friends over April vacation.

“The purpose [of the French Exchange program] is to promote understanding of other cultures and also to allow our students to practice their language,” French teacher Lauren Osepchuk, who organized the trip, said.

The trip costs around 2,300 dollars and is ten days long including travel time.

“I think the price is reasonable because France is a pretty expensive country,” senior Filipe Galvao said.

Anyone studying French or who has a basic knowledge of the French language could sign up for the trip. The trip attendees consist of mostly juniors and seniors, with a few underclassmen..

“Every couple of years we have a visit from the St.-Etienne high school,” Osepchuk said. “It’s a smaller high school than ours, but it is also a very competitive school like ours.”

Many of the students visiting France hosted  a French exchange student in the fall, but it was not a requirement for participation.

Galvao hosted an exchange student and is excited to reconnect with his old friend.

“I will be staying with my French Exchange student who came here in October,”  Galvao said.

The students will follow a fixed itinerary and will explore different cities during the day with chaperones and learn about the culture at night with their host family.

“Part of it is visiting Paris and the area around Lyon and part of it is being immersed in this language and making a friend,” Osepchuk said.

For the most part, the students going to France over April vacation think their experiences will be unlike any other and have many different reasons for wanting to go to France.

“I want to go because in school, we don’t truly experience the culture. We just read it out of a textbook and to fully learn a language, you have to immerse yourself in it,” freshman Veronika Jaster said. “I am excited to meet new people and see France because I have never been there before,” Jaster said.