À Sarcelles with Olympic stars of our own !

Last week, our students hopped on the RER D train to venture out to Sarcelles, a small town in the northern suburbs of Paris. Our group entered a brightly-lit domed gymnasium to be warmly welcomed by the coaches and other staff of a local school. There were several athletic activity stations set up all over the gym, along with a soccer field and a basketball court steps away outside. Even though the temperatures were quite warm last week, our students didn’t hesitate to get started and take to the court to pass a ball around. Moments later, local students from Collège Anatole France entered the gym and got settled on the bleachers. It wasn’t long before some of our students made the bold move to go up and join them, first exchanging brief introductions in French and then talking about the day ahead of them. It was both inspiring and endearing to see our students using their French to make new connections and then soon after use it to work together in teams. The terrain of sports proved to be the perfect conduit to serve as a natural ice breaker. Our students and the local teens could be seen giggling, laughing, and getting competitive with one another as they entertained each new activity.

Students had a great time participating in the various sports stations that were set up for them; some of which included archery, a running course, tug of war, boxing, badminton, soccer, and basketball! A handful of our students ended up in groups where they were the only American. In talking to some of these students afterward, a few said that they were nervous at first to be by themselves with people they didn’t know, but that afterward, they felt empowered and proud of themselves for finding ways to communicate with the local teens all on their own, without the help of their friends.

It was really extraordinary watching the world of sports work seamlessly to unite our students of diverse backgrounds! Before departing Sarcelles to head back to Paris, many students exchanged information and social media accounts with their newfound friends in order to stay in touch. We were told by the coaches in a post-activity water break that the Jeux Olympiques will be passing through Sarcelles in mere days, and we could not help but think that our student athletes were stars of our own just getting the place warmed up!