Description of activities

For this second year participating in the Gift a Poem campaign, French ASPnet schools joining the project strived to include their entire schools and foster connection between students as well as with school personnel and members of their larger community. Considering the success of the campaign, several schools are planning on renewing for a third year in 2025. Here are five examples:

ECOLE DES ROCHES, Verneuil-sur-Avre (27): For the second year, the students took part in the “Gift a poem” campaign in several classes at Ecole des Roches. They decided to share their poems with the residents of a retirement home near the school, that they visit regularly, as well as with the school’s cleaning staff.

INSTITUT DE GENECH, Genech (59): The Institut de Genech took up the campaign throughout the school, in several classes and languages: French, German, English and Spanish. More than 200 poems were displayed in an exhibition in the school library and documentation center, most of which were created by the students themselves who were given the choice in copying a poem or writing their own. The project was then brought to Peru through a school trip for 15 high-school students. They first prepared poems in their French class and then gave them to the children of an elementary school in Mala. The two accompanying teachers also gave a poem, written by one the students and titled « Una Sonrisa » (a smile), to the Peruvian teachers; it was enlarged and affixed on the school door to welcome the children each morning.

ECOLE PERCEVAL, Chatou (78): At the Perceval pre-school and elementary school in Chatou, kindergarden students illustrated a poem and recited it as a gift for the youngest pupils (second and third year pre-schoolers). Students enrolled in the 3rd year of the elementary school created and illustrated a poem, which they presented to the school’s administrative center.

COLLEGE LEONARD DE VINCI AEP95, Herblay (95): The Léonard de Vinci AEP95 Middle-school took part in the campaign with 1st, 2nd and 3rd year classes. To prepare the students, the teachers first incorporated poetry-related activities into the curriculum, and in parallel with French lessons, explored rhyming and sound techniques, while discovering some famous poems and listening to “Grand Corps Malade”. The students were then invited to create their own verses and illustrate them for those who chose to. 1st and 2nd years unanimously chose to visit a retirement home in the town of Herblay to share their poems with the residents. 3rd year students decided to write poems about friendship and send them to the participants in the Rallye des Gazelles (a 100% women’s rally taking place in Morocco), whom they will have the honor of meeting during a school trip scheduled for the end of April.

LYCEE BERTENE JUMINER, Le Lamentin (971, Guadeloupe): Since November 2023, the Lycée Bertène Juminer has been organizing UNESCO workshops during the lunch break. As part of these workshops, the participating students chose several poems from published collections and the Internet. The students then copied them and gave them to their parents on the occasion of the parent-teacher conference.

Schools involved

  • École des Roches, Verneuil-sur-Avre (27, France)
  • Institut de Genech, Genech (59, France)
  • Ecole Perceval, Chatou (78, France)
  • Collège Léonard de Vinci AEP95, Herblay (95, France)
  • Lycée Bertène Juminer, Le Lamentin (971, Guadeloupe, France)