January 22, 2009
Sixteen undergraduate students from St. John’s University
had a life-enhancing experience during their recent winter
intercession. From January 2—14, thirteen students from The School
of Education, two from St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and one from The Peter J. Tobin College of Business of
Business kicked off the New Year by traveling with Associate Dean
Charisse Willis, P.D. and Joseph Sciortino, Assistant to the
Director of
America Reads*America Counts, to Paris, France to provide
service in French schools and to learn about French educational
practices.
Staying at St. John’s
Paris site adjacent to the church where St. Vincent de Paul,
founder of the Vincentian order, is buried, the students took part
in teaching English, and observing and studying the French style of
teaching. They also held question-and-answer sessions with French
students and worked with the French teachers, having lively
discussions about the difference between the French and American
education systems and developing and executing English lesson plans
for French students.
The
adventure began on a Sunday with the group attending mass at the
magnificent Cathédrale Notre
Dame de Paris.The students were awed and fascinated by the
beauty of the Cathedral and marveled at the joyous voices of the
choir that filled the famed structure.
“I must say that it was such a beautiful sight to see our St.
John’s students really embrace the French culture, indicating their
complete willingness to learn and serve,” says Sciortino. After
mass the group acquainted themselves with the rest of the city as
they walked through the many pleasant streets of Paris, stopping to
visit famous places such as the Louvre
museum. As evening approached, they took a boat tour of Paris,
enjoying the beauty of the City of Love, which was lit up in a
festival of lights against the dark night sky, and mesmerized by
famous sites such as the twinkling Eiffel
Tower.
St.
John’s provided the students with the opportunity to experience
both private and public schools of all levels. Throughout the week
they took part in service as they worked in four schools:
Soeur Rosalie (a Vincentian elementary school), College François
Truffaut (a junior high school), St. Catherine Labouré (a
Vincentian professional school), and Notre Dame des Missions Saint
Pierre a private elementary, junior, and high school).
In addition to serving in the schools, the entire group helped
serve over 600 low-income individuals at the La Mie de Pain soup
kitchen, where members of the St. John’s group found that it was
easy to make a connection on many levels with all those at the soup
kitchen.
At one point in the trip, noted French educator Mathias Degoute of
the Université Paris
Sorbonne-Paris IV came to speak to the students about his
experiences. The students were also able to engage in dialogue with
the French educator about many different areas of the field of
Education.
“I
believe the education systems in France and the U.S. are very
different, but it has given our students an opportunity to see that
country’s educational system and change their way of thinking about
the teaching perspective they will encounter as they begin to
practice their craft. During our first day immersed in the
French system, our students engaged in academics with the
preschoolers. They were also able to join in the children’s recess,
participating in a typical American snowball fight in an atypical
winter wonderland that France was experiencing that day. It was
truly a bonding moment, the memory of which will last forever,”
Dean Willis observes.
“I felt like there was so much freedom in the school, yet such
structure as well. The preschool teacher allowed each of us to get
in front of the 21 students and teach them something
different. Someone went over the numbers and I was able to go
over the colors with them in English. Then, the three- and
four-year-olds taught us the colors in French,” reports Amanda
Ives, Executive Dean Scholar in The School of Education.
“It was truly a fantastic opportunity for our students to
experience the education system in another country,” Sciortino
points out. “They were able to share their very own knowledge of
educational process in a classroom setting with French students as
well as to learn their style of teaching. St. John’s University has
truly blessed our student by enabling them to gain first-hand
experience of other cultures in our Global Studies programs.”
“I learned that everyone can truly make a difference, small or
big,” Dean Willis notes. “Given this opportunity to create such a
special service program, Joseph and I felt so honored.
Through the support of Dean
Jerrold Ross, Ph.D. of the School of Education, we took a small
project and captured a special partnership between two countries
that will forever be a part of our lives. We learned so many
lessons and gained new friendships, which to me should be our most
important goal. Our mission was complete and now our passion
is to give other students within the School of Education an
opportunity of a life time.”