Gaia Shields, president of French Club and junior

What is French Club?

(French Club) is just a fun culture club, (and) I think a misconception of the club is that (students who are in the club) have to be in French or know the language to be a part of French Club, and it’s mainly just a culture club where you can make new friends, sometimes even get homework help if you are actually in French. (We) watch movies and we try French foods and just learn a lot about French culture and celebrate it. 

What are some activities that French Club holds?

Depending on the month we plan a lot of games and movies, but the idea for March’s meeting is to plan for April Fools because I believe in French it’s called “Poisson d’Avril” where you (stick paper) fish on your friends’ backs and try to see if they notice. So if we do hold a March meeting, that’s definitely what it’s going to be like. A lot of the time we’ll host a Christmas party, or an Easter event, where we’ll watch “Miraculous” specials, and for Mardi Gras we did (something one year). It honestly just depends on the year. 

What is your favorite thing about French Club?

My favorite thing about French Club is, once again, being able to share the culture with other people. I know French isn’t the most popular language here at CHS, so being able to share the “fun” part without all the grammar and stuff and just being able to share the culture and fun things about French stuff is honestly my favorite part, and seeing people join that aren’t in, like my peers from my classes.

What are some challenges that you face while running the club?

For challenges, one is scheduling because there’s a lot of other clubs that take precedent and it’s a very low-commitment club, so I don’t want to force people to come. And obviously (there’s) the misconception that to be in French Club you have to know French or be in a French class. I just think that anybody can join, and I try to express that to my best abilities, but recruiting has been a very hard part (of running French Club). 

What environment does French Club contribute to CHS?

I think we definitely open up a community of people who can come together and just share their interests. And they don’t need to necessarily contribute anything; you can just bring yourself. I think that adds a lot to CHS because a lot of the clubs here have a specific purpose to get into college or put something on your resume, and I think French Club just (has) a really relaxing environment and being able to add a club to CHS that doesn’t have a lot of commitment is probably very comforting to some people. 

Andrea Yocum, French Club sponsor

How long have you been the sponsor of French Club and what do you like about it?

I’ve been the sponsor of French Club for probably around 15 years. What I like about it is (French Club) has a lot of fun cultural activities and also the vibe of the club. Every year it changes depending on who are the officers. So it’s always (a) really positive group and enthusiastic too. 

What are some of the events that have been hosted throughout your time as their sponsor?

It’s not that (French Club) hosts a ton of events; we more attend events that are French cultural events and then they host social activity meetings. 

What are some challenges or obstacles that you or the club have faced?

Some of the challenges or obstacles (that we’ve faced) would be some years you’ll have a really good group of officers that are seniors and then they graduate, so every couple of years we have to (find new officers to fill in). And then when the freshmen come in we have to be like, “Hey, do any of you want to be officers?” and then kind of build their way up, so that would probably be a challenge.