March 3, 2025 By Hingham Public Schools, Photos taken by Maria Zade, Fabienne and Stacey Turner
It is certainly an exciting time of the year for our Hingham World Language Department! Our language program is not only a robust one in regards to language learning, but the enjoyment of first-hand cultural experiences is also very empowering to our students.
On Tuesday, February 25, Hingham students and families began hosting, for the second time, French students from Cahors – a town in the southwest of France. Seventeen French students are staying with Hingham host families until March 6. Both the French exchange students as well as our own Hingham students will embark on a well-rounded itinerary together. Some of the ventures include field trips to both Hingham Historical sites as well as the city of Boston.
Furthermore, there and several planned activities within the high school. This includes a Franco- American mixer afternoon, a Woodshop project, and Global Citizenship Program Lunch Bunch session- just to name a few! Through this exchange experience, both Hingham students and our French exchange students are building relationships and learning about each other’s cultural practices, products, and perspectives.
The partnership between our Hingham French World Language Program and Cahors students originally began in October 2022. It continued with Hingham students visiting and staying with many of the same French students in their hometown of Cahors during April vacation in 2023. Now, fast forward to 2025, and we are eager to welcome French students to Hingham just as we are delighted that our Hingham students will, again, travel to Cahors during the upcoming April vacation!
As always, we are incredibly grateful to our students and their families for hosting and fostering the relationship between both student groups. We also extend thanks to our teachers, Mr. Alec Porter and Ms. Maria Zade for the organization of this exchange and their dedication to furthering our Hingham Public School’s mission statement, core values, and vision.
