60th Anniversary Issue - Compass Spring/Summer 2012

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

Compass

60

m a g a z i n e

© MARJOLEIN MARTINOT

years of excellence

American Section Lycée International St Germain-en-Laye

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hat does 60 years mean? It means thousands of alumni and former students and parents; it means hundreds of former teachers and administrators; and it means countless fond memories and stories about life at the Lycée and within the Section. In the past 60 years, the Lycée International de SaintGermain-en-Laye and the American Section have had an impact on so many. It is impossible to share all of their stories and memories in this celebratory issue, but what we hoped to do is create a memory timeline highlighting the Section throughout the decades by including real stories written by students, teachers, and parents past and present. Hopefully all of you can see some of yourself and some of your experience through these stories.

This past February, the Section hosted the first annual FoASALI alumni and friends reception in New York City. Over 70 friends of the Section attended. Some came from just down the street, but many also traveled for the opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. From students who attended the Lycée in the 1950’s and 60’s to students who graduated in 2011; from people winding down their successful careers to university students still trying to figure out what to do with all the choices their education has afforded them - it was such a pleasure to offer all of these people with such different stories and paths an opportunity to share their commitment to the American Section. This is the bond. I was once again astounded by the impact the Section has on its former students and parents. Teachers, both American and French, favorite hang-out spots such as Mario’s, clubs, Prom, fieldtrips - stories were shared and laugher was omnipresent.

My history with the American Section is just beginning. As you read this issue, I will be completing my first year in the Director chair. Already, I can see why this school and Section remain so dear to so many. Two former Directors have reached out to me to share their expertise and offer their support. The other Section Directors and the French administration have made it a point to help me adjust and learn the ropes. The American Section teachers - from Maternelle to Terminale - offered me support, institutional history, and their friendship from the first day I arrived. And the parents and students have welcomed me with open arms.

I am thrilled to be a new member of this vibrant, diverse, and unique community. I am fortunate enough to join the many who have walked through the gates to the Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and like those before me, I am committed to our mission - to offer the very best of American educational methodologies, programs, and cultural experiences in this multi-cultural and multi-linguistic environment.

I am excited to hear more stories, meet more former students and parents, and continue the story that is the American Section.

Kelly Herrity

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Compass

American Section of the Lycée International Rue du Fer à Cheval - BP 70107 78100 St. Germain en Laye, France Phone + 33 1 34 51 74 85 Fax + 33 1 30 87 00 49 www.americansection.org

4 A Word from the Board A Strategic Plan Update

5 Primary School The Primary School Survey

The magazine is distributed without charge to current parents, alumni and former faculty and staff, and to many parents of alumni and other friends of the Section.

Director: Kelly Herrity, director@americansection.org Editor: Margaret Jenkins-Ghiglione, communications@americansection.org Graphic design: Judy Loda, Newwalk Design Printer: Imprimerie Jasson-Taboureau Editorial Committee: Betsy Farhi, Sonia Lee, Siun O’Sullivan, Tiffany Snel-Wark Contributors: Sarah-Anne Aarup, Marie Asselin, Yasmin and Francesco Ballarin, Jacques Behr, Steven Berzin, Linda Berzin Karma, Jocelyne Black, Charlotte Borde, François Boulet, Adrienne Covington, Mary Jean Cummiskey Young, Sami Dakhlia, Jenny du Crest, Betsy Farhi, Ted Faunce, Marc Fournier, Mary Friel, Cécile Fruman, Myriam Goldfrad, Brian Ha, Kelly Herrity, Beth Heudebourg, Scot Hicks, Margaret Jenkins-Ghiglione, Yves Lemaire, Joan Lynch, Sean Lynch, Nancy Magaud, Andrew McGovern, Michele Michel, Bill Moon, Barbara Moross, Justine Obr, Aurélie Ouss, Siun O’Sullivan, Sylvie Pena, Walter Putnam, Chris Rochester, Barbara Roush, Mike Scales, Carl Schoonover, Tiffany Snel-Wark, Matthew Tobin, Denise van Veen, Michael Veitch, Eric von Dorster, Anne-Lise Wolff Holahan Photography: Grace Abuhamad, Jenny du Crest, Judith Hamery, Marjolein Martinot, Margaret Jenkins-Ghiglione, Denise van Veen and numerous Section yearbook photographers and community members.

Vol. 1, Number 2 Copyright 2012 by ASALI. All rights reserved.

We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this magazine. If you have any questions, corrections or comments please contact the editor, Margaret Jenkins-Ghiglione, at communications@americansection.org.

Founded in 1952, the American Section provides an American educational and cultural experience of exceptional quality within the unique context of the Lycée International, where 13 national sections are represented.

The American Section prepares students to become lifelong learners and global citizens by fostering intellectual curiosity and self-confidence that help students realize their full potential and developing students’ leadership abilities and sense of responsibility towards others.

The American Section pursues this mission through a rigorous and rewarding American curriculum which culminates in the French Baccalaureate with International Option, as well as through a broad and enriching co-curricular program including such activities as drama, community service, sports and student publications.

Please address admissions inquiries to Director of Admissions, Mary Friel, at admissions@americansection.org.

6 Middle School A Brief History of the Middle School

7 Upper School Freedom from Chemical Dependency

Celebrating 60 Years!

8 History of the Lycée International

11 June Milton Berzin, Founder of the American Section

“What does 60 years mean?

It means thousands of alumni and former students and parents; it means hundreds of former teachers

12 American Section Directors

16 American Section Teachers

22 Alumni - Six Decades of Memories

25 Spotlight - Back to the Eighties

26 Legacy Families

and administrators; and it means countless fond memories and stories

28 Student Voice My American Section History

29 Faculty Voice The First Time I Set Eyes...

about life at the Lycée and within the Section.”

30 Window on the Lycée An Interview with Yves Lemaire

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A Strategic Plan Update

n keeping with the theme of this second issue of Compass magazine – history - setting a course or strategy for the long-term viability and success of the Section has always been one of the main goals and raison d’être of the Board. Our role is to ensure that the Section offers the best teaching practices and extra-curricular activities for both this generation and those that will follow. In years past, this was done in a less formal or official fashion. In 2009 that changed when a committee comprised of members of each of the different constituencies (board, faculty, administration, staff, parents, and students) formally developed a road map for the next five years – the Strategic Plan.

In the past eight months, much of this plan has been put into action. Two faculty members, Andrew McGovern and Terry Hershey, have taken on additional responsibilities related directly to the Strategic Plan. Mr. McGovern, an Upper School English teacher, is now also the Student Support Coordinator. His role is to develop and lead a wellness and advisory program that will accompany our students throughout their time in the American Section. Already this year, we have solidified advisory in Seconde, added advisory in Première, organized a visit from Freedom from Chemical Dependency (for more details see the Upper School area of this issue), and met regularly to discuss ways we can best support our students. In the next few years, we plan to develop a more robust advisory program in the Middle School and add a life skills curriculum (presently being created by Beccy Haugen) for our primary students. Ms. Hershey, a Middle School English teacher, is now also our Global Citizenship Coordinator, and she is responsible for the development and oversight of programs that foster a sense of commitment to service and the betterment of the world. Ms. Hershey revamped both the India exchange program and the trip to India, bringing those experiences to a broader group of students through class visits and presentations. She also launched the ‘Lunch and Learn Series’ whereby Upper School students or parents shared their service experiences with our Middle School students over an informal lunch. Service learning – service connected directly to curriculum – is in the works for the near future.

Two staff members have also taken on additional responsibility to ensure that our Strategic Plan is put into place.

Margaret Jenkins-Ghiglione, presently our External Affairs Officer, has worked diligently to connect with our fascinating alumni who live all over the globe. She organized the first annual New York Alumni Event held at the Yale Club and attended by over 70 graduates ranging from the class of 1968 to the class of 2011. Shortly, we plan to have a website allowing our alumni to add their contact details easily and to connect with one-another. Amy Crist, our present Library Manager, will take on the additional role of leading our Technology in Education (TIE) initiative. Equipped with new tools, Ms. Crist and the TIE Committee will be looking for ways to best integrate technology into our existing program, with the goal of teaching our students how to use technology in an effective, efficient, and safe way.

We still have a way to go, but already our strategy is impacting our present students and promises to create structures that will not only continue to offer the very best of teaching practices and extra-curricular activities to our students, but also ones that are relevant and adapted to the needs of the 21st century global citizen. Our history proves our commitment to excellence; our vision and plans for the future show our determination to remain at the forefront of American education.

New York Alumni Evening February 4, 2012

Abena Boafo ’05, Florence Michel-Razé ‘03 and Anne-Cécile Blanchot ’03.

Jack Freudenheim ’75 and Robin Gillespie ‘73.

Danton Goei ‘88, Jeremie Izsaks ’88, Marc Fitchenberg ’93 and Alexandre Remnek ‘87.

Christopher Perkins ’77, Frank and Lorna Colarusso (former parents), Brenda Ray ’74 and Christine Perkins.

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P S E

very four years, the American Section Primary conducts a survey in order to get feedback from families. Co-curricular activities, classroom materials, library and art programs are among the many topics addressed. In the past, survey feedback has helped to identify areas of excellence or areas of concern and resulted in concrete changes. After the last primary survey, for example, the administration invested in a second set of textbooks for every class to reduce the weight of backpacks.

Last spring, a committee was formed consisting of teachers, Board members, and parent representatives. Barbara Moross, Primary Principal, was at the helm of this dedicated group and coordinated the entire process. The teacher committee members were Beccy Haugen, Matthew Jackson and Lisa Demangeat. We were lucky to have Board members Sonia Lee Pointeau and Marc Fournier, who had previously worked on Upper and Middle School surveys. John Mathieu, technical evangelist for Microsoft, took on the task of uploading the survey onto Survey Monkey, an online-survey tool.

Survey Monkey was chosen for ease of use and anonymity. Bobbi Heydacker and Jenny du Crest, past and current Homeroom Parent Coordinators for Ecole Schnapper and Denise van Veen and Muriel Lebbar, Homeroom Parent Coordinators for the Lycée International, all represented the parent community.

In September, the committee established a timeline and began focusing on specific tasks. Inspired by prior Middle and Upper School surveys, the committee split up to brainstorm on the questions to be included. Teachers hammered out items related to academic and curricular issues. The parent group was responsible for volunteering and communications topics. Barbara Moross liaised between the two task forces.

The school was very interested in what the parents had to say so we tried to make it as user-friendly as possible. It was important to ensure that the survey could be completed in 20 minutes. Even though the questions were multiple choice, we felt that it was essential for parents to be able to easily add their comments and elaborate on any given point.

By far the most enjoyable part of the process was creating a lighthearted video to introduce the survey. Students from both schools starred in this entertaining “Hollywood” production. There were lights, cameras and lots of action all over the Lycée and Schnapper campuses. The video was emailed to every family a week before the survey went live to whet their appetites.

The campaign was a resounding success! The response rate for the Lycée and Schnapper campuses combined was over 90%. This is a result of the outstanding participation of the Primary families who took time to complete the survey. A special thanks goes out to those who had to fill out the survey a few times for multiple siblings! The quality of the responses shows that many parents went the extra mile and provided detailed comments. This will allow for a more in-depth analysis of the results. Even the primary students were put to task to remind their parents to take the survey: every class reaching 100% participation was rewarded with an ice cream sundae party. Lastly, we appreciate the dedication and perseverance of all the homeroom parents who went beyond their usual responsibilities to ensure maximum participation. Without their caring and creative approach to motivate their classes, we would not have achieved such a high response rate.

The Board and Mrs. Moross are busy compiling all the data and will present the results at the Spring Information Meeting on the evening of Wednesday, May 30th.

We hope to see you all there to hear the exciting outcome!

Focus on: The Primary School Survey

Primary School students enjoy ice cream sundae parties!

Jenny du Crest - Head Homeroom Parent, Ecole Schnapper and Denise van Veen - Head Homeroom Parent Lycée International SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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Focus on: A Brief History of the Middle School

Interacting with literature.

Celebrating the Middle School Halloween Party.

Below: 6ème “Paris on your doorstep” outing.

Adrienne Covington in 1997 and now.

his year the Section’s Middle School celebrates its fifteenth birthday. Not only is it hard to believe that fifteen years have flown by, it is equally hard -even impossibleto realize that before the Middle School’s creation, the 6ème through 3ème age set were automatically considered part of Upper School!

In the decade and a half since its creation, my colleagues and I have done our utmost to insure that the Middle School gives this special age group the attention -both curricular and personal- that it needs to face today’s complicated world. What has evolved is the notion that the Middle School is the keystone in the Section’s structure, its placement coming at a critical juncture in a child’s cognitive and personal development.

To give you an idea of our commitment to innovation as well as a glimpse of how far we’ve come, allow me to share some of the following historical tidbits.

For starters, did you know that originally American history was not taught in the Middle School? Students studied early American history in Primary School and then later American history for the Bac - but the Middle Schoolers missed out completely on this formative experience.

Thanks to a parent survey taken over ten years ago, the curriculum was completely revamped to give our students US history.

The language arts program has always been one of pride and joy for the Section… yet we have also understood that a curriculum must keep up with the times.

Our students get the best of both worlds they continue to read the classics such as Of Mice and Men and Romeo and Juliet (all in unabridged version, I might add!) but there are contemporary new books added all the time. A newly added favorite among the 5èmes is the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The story is narrated by a young man with Asperger’s syndrome.

Not only is the tale captivatingly written, it also encourages our students to be more sensitively aware thinkers - a prime goal of the Middle School.

We have also instituted an Advisory program for 6ème and 4ème students, with ongoing behind-the-scenes attention. The point is to understand that getting through the middle school years is vital to the overall health and happiness of the child as she/ he grows older.

Indeed, for those of you who have come to appreciate the close bond between Section teacher and student, there is an explanationthe care and concern that has become one of our trademarks over the past fifteen years.

Adrienne Covington Middle School Principal

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Andrew McGovern in 1995 and now.

Focus on: Freedom from Chemical Dependency

How can we as parents keep our children safe from the hazards of experimental drug, tobacco and alcohol use in our particular setting? And how can we address the

roots of this behavior: stress relief, wanting to fit in?

These were the main topics presented by Stephanie Haines of FCD (Freedom from Chemical Dependency) during the winter informational evening for parents, held in the Salon Rouge of the Château in an informal atmosphere. Stephanie offered tips and insights gleaned from her broad experience visiting international school communities, and elicited strategies and creative ideas from the parents in the audience. Following are some of the suggestions that came out of the parent “brainstorming session”.

Obviously, this is not a “one size fits all” approach; as members of an international community we have varying parenting styles and rules. If you find any of the following useful, put it into action!

Challenge “normative” thinking: According to Haines, pre-teens and teens are developmentally prone to thinking in absolute categories about their peers and how to fit in. They may say “everyone smokes” or “all the cool kids drink alcohol at parties.”

This can increase their sense that they need to do such things to fit in and that it is “normal.”

They often have an exaggerated notion of what their peers are doing. If your child says something like this, challenge the generalization: “Everyone drinks alcohol? How many in your class don’t? Does Johnny X?” It helps to point out the students around them who do not use tobacco or alcohol. As adults we can show them the limitations of this kind of “normative” reasoning and support their capacity to make the right choices.

Stress: One of the main factors which puts our children at risk is stress. Suggestions for reducing the spoken and unspoken stress we put on our children include: - Encourage them to exercise, walk, get out of the house in a healthy way.

- Support activities or hobbies which provide a healthful break from the stress of school and deadlines.

- Keep the “future plans” conversations to a minimum; the culture surrounding our children in and out of school is constantly reinforcing anxiety about results and future plans; they don’t need more at home.

- Discuss with your child the biggest stressors in his/her life. Be willing to make adjustments at home to reduce stressors.

Parties, Sleepovers, Weekends: - Accompany your child, offer to drop off or pick-up from their stated destination.

- Be willing to look out for other children who may not have rides or who may be intoxicated.

- Insist on meeting host parents or getting their contact number so you can verify the whereabouts of your child, check what kind of behavior is permitted (there may be vastly differing attitudes about what is acceptable at someone else’s house).

- Offer unconditional help to intoxicated or disorientated kids: safety first; scolding later.

- Depending on your personal philosophy, consider hosting and supervising a party.

If you offer to do this, have a detailed discussion with your child about limits and acceptable behavior first, and of course…be willing to lose some sleep!

Parent/Child Dialogue: If you permit your older teenager to drink alcohol, discuss reasonable limits with your child. Discuss how many is “too many”; this can help your child to set up a notion of limits. Question: “What will you do if there are drugs at the party and someone offers you some?” Getting our children to open up and trust us can help us support them and to think through consequences. Simply telling them not to consume alcohol or drugs may not suffice.

Positive reinforcement: Praise kids when they are not engaged in undesirable behavior; parents can too often fall into the ésprit critique and give children feedback only when they are making mistakes. Valorize their achievements and good progress as this helps support their self-esteem.

Above all, keep talking to other parents -we are the best resource about what is happening with our children.

Healthfully yours, Andrew McGovern Student Support Coordinator

U S “Have any of you ever experienced runner’s high?” This seemingly arbitrary sentence startles me. I am sitting in the amphitheater of the Lycée International. Before me, a pretty, smiling woman occupies the stage. She stands tall, her eyes twinkling. She looks at ease, healthy, and even happy up there on that stage. She could be preparing a discussion on how to reach college, or a philosophical lecture on what it means to be happy; anything but a discussion about a problem that some teenagers find themselves facing every day: drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and addiction.

Stephanie Haines works for Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD). Today, the entire American Section Seconde class is assembled in the amphitheater, all eyes riveted on her. As she captures our collective gaze, Mrs. Haines’ face brightens with a wide smile, not at all preparing us for what she is about to say: “You guys are in 10th grade, right? My 10th grade year was no fun.” This is when her story starts and we learn that this seemingly healthy and blissful woman was an alcoholic at our age. While this news settles in, our speaker describes her life as a teenager, and the huge part her disease played in it. As the ball of yarn of Mrs. Haines’ personal experience unravels, she uses the same thread to skillfully knit the different risks of drug, alcohol, and tobacco addiction in teenagers. She takes the example of a runner’s high-the body’s natural endorphin release experienced by some distance athletes- to describe why our bodies can start to crave the euphoric effects of substances like marijuana, cocaine, and tobacco. She dexterously combines anecdotes, scientific data about teens’ biological and developmental susceptibilities, environmental risk factors, and the long-term effects of substance use-all in one mesmerizing speech.

As we exit though the glass doors, I realize I just went through what would be called a no-drugs-lecture.

Yet I do not feel at all like I have spent the past two hours being lectured to about how drugs are simply bad. My feeling was one of enrichment and satisfaction, because I had spent the past two hours sharing someone’s sincere story and had come out of it a bit smarter.

Marie Asselin Seconde

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of 60 yearshistory Above: SHAPE classroom in the 50’s; Mario’s truck in the 70’s; Tribune article July 13, 1952; Below:Roger Rousseau and June Berzin; M. Scherer gardening with students; Bill Moon’s theater class.

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n July 11, 1952, the Shape Village School, predecessor of the Lycée International, held its first commencement ceremony. Marshall Peck, covering the event for the European Edition of the New York Herald Tribune wrote, “148 children, representing nine nationalities,were dressed up ‘spic and span’ for the end of year programs.” Sixty years later, the tradition of donning national costumes at graduation remains. The history of the Lycée International proves the French adage plus que ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

The SHAPE Village School When NATO decided to install SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) headquarters in Rocquencourt in 1951, Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower asked General Le Bigot, the SHAPE finance minister, to find an island on the Seine where SHAPE families could work and live together to create a truly coherent international community. Although General Le Bigot was unable to find a suitable island, he presented Eisenhower with an alternate space; one that he said was like an island in the middle of a sea of green, situated in the countryside on the outskirts of St. Germain-en-Laye, on the 20 hectare property of the Château d’Hennemont.

Using five billion in Marshall Plan credits, the ten buildings and 282 apartments that comprise the Village d’Hennemont were constructed in record time. Ground was broken on July 30, 1951; just three months later, on October 31, the village was inaugurated in the presence of General Eisenhower. The original plan was that children living in the Hennemont Village would attend the Ecole Normale, on the other side of the N13. But a few days after the inauguration ceremony, General Eisenhower, a very religious man, was inspired to say, “We have here twelve Nations - they call themselves allies but they don’t always get along. I insist that first we construct a chapel and then a school.”

Work began immediately - the chapel (today’s Aumonerie) was built and General Le Bigot delegated the creation of the school to René Tallard, the school’s first Proviseur. M. Tallard’s vision was to build an establishment that would be characterized by international unity, while preserving the integrity of individual nationalities, in a spirit of liberty, harmony, and humanism, open to the inevitable changes that would be shaping the world of the future. It would be a school that would “prepare young people for their place in the world which will be different from that of their fathers to a degree we cannot yet measure,” a sentiment that is often echoed today, as anyone who has attended a Spring Information meeting can attest.

The SHAPE Village School opened on January 10, 1952. 18 students were enrolled and classes were held in the Communs, near the current maternelle building. By July 1952, there were 150 primary students enrolled. Some ten years later, in 1962, there were 1345 students on register, with classes ranging from Maternelle through Terminale. Half of the students were “internationals,” the children of the military officers as well as some civilians who had settled in the area. The others were French children from the surrounding rural villages and from the city of St. Germain. The school’s foreign instruction was financed by SHAPE.

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Timeline history of the Château d’Hennemont VIII century - Presence of a medieval castle with a Merovingian watch tower on the Hennemont hill.

1182 - The Bishop of Chartres confirms the founding of a chapel with monks in his Villa d’Hennemont.

1260 - Construction of a gothic chapel, dedicated to St. Thibaud de Marly, on the site. Hennemont becomes a royal possession.

1289 - The maison dit d’Hennemont is given to Péronelle de Géry, governess of the royal children, by King Philippe le Bel. 1307 - Péronelle de Géry donates Hennemont to the Church. It becomes a Priory for seven monks.

XIV-XVI centuries - Many aristocrats buried in chapel. The property is often occupied and partially destroyed during the 100 Years War and the Guerres de Réligion.

1662 - The Abby of Conches becomes Prior and revalorizes the monastery.

1784/5 - The Priory becomes part of the new St. Louis of Port Marly parish. There are 10 small buildings, a cloister and a church on the site.

1791 - Building and land sold to ten owners who change frequently.

1820 - Howatson, an Englishman, buys Hennemont.

1829 - The Priory is replaced by a farm and two or three country homes.

1856 - Napoleon III and his court visit Hennemont, now owned by Baron Paul Larcanger.

Beginning XX century - All former constructions destroyed.

1905/7 - A new castle, made of brick and stone in a neo-feudal design is built by the architect Duchampt, for the pharmacist Henri-Edmond Canone, inventor of the Valda cough drop.

1926 (or 8) - The Maharadjah d’Indore buys the castle and domaine, calls it the Chateau d’Holkar. His wife is Nancy Miller, an American from Seattle.

1938/9 - Jean Seignette, mayor of St. Germain en Laye, initiates a project to build one of the most modern lycées in France on the property.

1940/4 - Occupation by the German military forces, who install their army administrative services.

1944/8 - Occupation by American military forces.

1952 - Arrival of SHAPE, construction of the SHAPE village and creation of the SHAPE School.

Primary classrooms were built (referred to as the Ecole du Bas), prefabs were set up in several areas, and construction of the actual building E was completed by 1960. First-rate laboratory and audio-visual equipment as well as home economics materials and pianos were purchased; nonetheless, material conditions were difficult. There were flea and rat infestations in the lower school buildings, and smelly oil stoves heated the cramped classrooms. Sports facilities were limited and lunch service caused mini-culture wars, as British and American students were quite happy to bring their lunch box to school, but French families expected cafeteria service. Eventually, a kitchen was built in the Château. There was no direct route from the upper campus to the lower one, and to get from the lower school to the Château one took a dirt road that passed outside Lycée grounds.

The Lycée’s emblematic Château was not at all part of the school in the early years. It was originally used by SHAPE as an officer’s club.

Little by little, the school took over the building - first, classrooms were installed on the two upper floors (these rooms were very small and it was necessary to pass through one classroom to get to the next), then the ground floor rooms began to be used as reception rooms. Finally, a kitchen was built in the basement (in the space which is now the Amphitheater) and lunch rooms were installed on the first floor. Underground passageways, now inaccessible, led from the Château to other buildings on the property. By 1956, the Château had become the heart of the school, and the building was, in time, acquired by the Education Nationale.

The educational program was that of the French Education Nationale, with six hours of national instruction that took the place of les cours mineurs – French geography, geology and woodworking. There was an hour each day for religious instruction (Catholic and Protestant), and 10 chaplains were assigned to the school. Because these classes were held during the school day, they became a point of contention for many of the French faculty who cited the principle of separation of church and state.

Français Spécial, a specificity of the SHAPE School in St. Germain, was implemented in 1953. Judged to be a unique and exceptional program, its success surprised the specialists. An article published in The French Review by the American Association of Teachers of French in 1958 marvels that classes conducted for children ages 7-11 at the SHAPE school allowed children to understand, speak, read and write enough French to join regular classes in a French school after ten weeks of full-time instruction.

Lycée International d’OTAN The school has always been shaped by legislation, politics, bureaucracy and décrets. The decree of August 27, 1962 institutionalized the Ecole Internationale de St. Germain as an autonomous and new school, called the Lycée International d’OTAN, separating it from the Lycée Marcel Roby to which it had been administratively annexed for 10 years. A lettre ministérielle, dated February 9, 1963, clarified the relationship between SHAPE and the Education Nationale, notably for the nominations of French and foreign personnel. It was also at this time that the civilian children, who had been allowed to attend Section classes alongside military children, were told that for liability reasons they could no longer attend classes. Led by June Berzin, the parents of the American Section civilian children banded together and hired their own teachers, the forerunners of today’s American Section Board of Trustees. For several years, the civilian and military sections co-existed, with the military classes meeting in well-equipped classrooms and the civilians holding concurrent classes in make-shift closet-sized rooms.

In 1965 the Lycée International d’OTAN was comprised of ten national sections: Swedish (2), Greek (4), Spanish (4), Turkish (17), Danish (25), Italian (25), Norwegian (34), Belgian (57), Canadian (87), German (90), Dutch (122), American: military and civil (205), British (281) Above: American Civilian Section report card 1962, Right: M. Scherer and David Graham with basketball team in 1978.

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and French (671). Proviseur Tallard retired, and Edgar Scherer was appointed to take his place. Although the school was thriving, it was soon hit with a crisis that would change it forever.

Lycée d’Etat International In 1966, President de Gaulle expelled NATO from France. Hundreds of military children and most of the section teachers, who were military personnel, moved away. The Dutch and German Sections, supported by their governments, remained, as well as the civilians from the British and American Sections. After the departure of the SHAPE families, in 1967, Proviseur Scherer was able to convince the Education Nationale to keep the school open by arguing that the bilingual and international families in France would relocate to this area for the school and that the continued presence of the Dutch and Germans was a strong sign of international good will. He, with the help of some local politicians, parents and colleagues, re-engineered the financing and the structure of the school.

The British and American civilian parents formalized the existence of their Sections by establishing a legal framework, creating the first “private” sections.

On April 16, 1968, the Lycée was designated a “Lycée d’Etat International”, a French public school officially recognized as a mixed educational establishment structured to receive both French and foreign pupils. The admission of students and the administration of foreign personnel fell under the authority of the Proviseur.

It was at about this time that the International Baccalaureate (IB) was implemented as a graduating diploma. David Graham was named Director of the American Section and started extra-curricular activities, one of the more popular being basketball. The American Section at that point counted only 80 students.

The seventies marked a period of growth and innovation for the Lycée. Under the direction of M. Scherer, programs were initiated that remain hallmarks of the Lycée International to this day. The Lycée was in part a pedagogical testing ground, with programs like Français Spécial, and an incubator for mixing different cultural approaches to education. The incredible demand for places at the school, combined with a desire to reach out to the surrounding communities and to truly fulfill the school’s mission, led to the creation of the externé program which was incredibly complex, yet ingenious. Today, the number of externés could fill its own primary school, and primary schools in the surrounding communities have benefitted from their collaboration with the Lycée. At the same time, the network of “feeder” schools and collèges was being developed, as with the shared British/US section at the Collège des Hauts Grillets. The IB was replaced by a home-grown version, the OIB, created by the Education Nationale with enormous support and cooperation from the Lycée, in 1984. Vestiges of the IB that are found at the LI today include the option théâtre (and the grenier des costumes, surely the only one of its kind in a public French lycée), and the option maths, as well as the foundation of a culture of international educational exchange.

The involvement of administration, faculty, parents and students in this unique educational community was as 10

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strong then as it is now, with the creation of La Coopérative and L’ Association des Amis du Lycée International. Faculty, students and parents participated in the Saturday morning programs instituted by M. Scherer. The Proviseur transformed the French tradition of Saturday morning heures de colle into a morning of activities including gardening and beekeeping. This precursor of the “classroom without walls” allowed the Proviseur to open the school to section activities and to get to know students in an extra-curricular setting. The Lycée also opened its doors to parents, providing adult French language and culture courses at almost no cost. It was in the early 1970’s that Mario first set up shop, serving sandwiches from a small truck, much to the delight of students and faculty. The school judged that he was just outside of their jurisdiction, parked on a public sidewalk. The town considered that he was in fact parked within the Lycée property and therefore was under the responsibility of the school.

The eighties and nineties were periods of rebuilding at the school. A victim of its own success, the school was seriously overcrowded and lacked cafeteria, classroom and office space. The number of sections had grown over the years with the Japanese, Portugese, Norwegian and Spanish Sections joining the American, British, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian and Swedish. Between 1990-1994 an ambitious renovation project was undertaken. The Bâtiment des Domaines, which had over the years housed the SHAPE market, administrative offices, the Epicerie, and a student center, was completely restructured and replaced by the new Agora building. The faculty parking lot and some staff apartments were built. The administration building (today’s Bâtiment E) was expanded, and the Ecole du Bas was demolished and replaced by a new primary building. Later, the amphitheater was built under the Château. M. Scherer, the well-loved Proviseur and heart and soul of the institution retired in 1989.

He was succeeded by Jean-Pierre Maillard (1989-1997), Patrick Charpeil (1997-2001) and Yves Lemaire, who will retire at the end of this school year. Roger Rousseau, Intendant since 1953 and a pillar of the Lycée International, retired in 1994.

The 21st century Lycée has seen the creation of the Polish, Chinese and Russian sections, and is once again outgrowing its space. A new renovation project, put on hold for many years at the regional level, is about to begin.

Fiscal management of the school, which until 2004 had been the responsibility of the state, was decentralized and taken over by the Département and the Région. In 2006, the private sections of the Lycée, led by the directors and boards of the American and British Sections, and assisted by the APELI, successfully fought legislation that threatened to close the “private” sections. Over the past decade, the network of lycées internationaux, patterned after the Lycée International de Saint Germain-en-Laye, has grown throughout France, and the OIB is a diploma in full expansion. Most importantly though, the international spirit envisioned by General Eisenhower of cooperation, community and multi-culturalism continues to thrive on the site of the SHAPE Village.

Betsy Farhi and Margaret Jenkins-Ghiglione

June Martin Berzin Founder of the American Section

Above: The Berzin family in 1960 Below: June Berzin at her desk, with M. Scherer in 1983; Mme Toedtmeyer (bookkeeper); and a sketch of June while serving with the Red Cross.

June Martin Berzin was a courageous and determined person committed to the promotion of education. From early on, obstacles were thrown in her path. When June turned 12, her mother became seriously ill with pulmonary tuberculosis and the Great Depression of 1929 hit her family hard. June had to take care of her mother. At the age of 19, when her mother passed away, her father could only afford to help his sons through school financially but could not to fund her education. Finding herself “ironing 20 shirts a week” for her father and brothers, she finally moved out of the family home. She supported herself as a nanny, a sales person, an accounting clerk, and a piano teacher for 10 years to earn the money needed to attend college. By the time she was 28 she was six months away from earning her degree.

But, by then, World War II was raging. Her father and brothers pressured her: “June, what are you going to do for the war effort?” So she left her studies prematurely, to join the Red Cross in England where she became a club director during the Blitz Krieg bombings of London. By the end of the war she had been promoted to manage 10 prestigious hotels in Paris that had been commandeered by the Allies to house officers. There she met Milton Berzin, an Air Corps officer commissioned first to London in late 1943 prior to D-Day (after being sent to a Harvard officer’s program), then to Paris. They married in late spring 1949. Milton built a business that bridged the Atlantic by representing US telecommunications products or appliances (General Electric, Raytheon, Westinghouse, etc.) in Europe.

Having settled permanently in Paris, Milton and June preferred the unique French, European, American combination of the SHAPE School to the purely American School setting in Garches.

Starting in 1954, they enrolled each of their three children as soon they reached kindergarten.

But in 1961, the US government decided it could no longer fund instruction for the children of American civilian families. The 14 civilian students were dismissed. June Berzin found this unbearable. Having been short-changed in her own education, she did not want that to happen to others. So after convincing the Proviseur, Mr. Tallard, to provide a small classroom, June Berzin founded the SHAPE International School - American Civilian Section in 1962, which operated in a semi-official capacity as a privately funded initiative.

She hired Mrs. Loetitia Toedtmeyer as bookkeeper and collected tuition from the parents of a core group of 25 students to purchase textbooks and pay for the salaries of the first teachers, Mr. Ginsberg, Ms. Needham, and Ms. Medinnis. By 1964, the Section had doubled to 55 students. Penny Huguenot was hired as the Primary School teacher, Patricia Robb Sarfati responded to ad in the Herald Tribune for the Secondary School. Ms. Tulloch later came on board, as teacher then principal. Soon, officializing the structure became essential to provide French Social Security benefits to the staff and teachers. Statutes were drawn up in 1965 by Mrs. Berzin, Mr. Melcher, and Mr. Changeux.

The Civilian Section, founded in 1962 and “officialized” in 1965, co-existed with the American Military Section until it became the school’s only American Section when NATO and the US military moved to Brussels in 1967. By 1968, the now “private” section within the French Lycée d’Etat had grown to 80 students, then to 280 in 1974 when Mrs. Berzin gave up her tenure on the Board.

For 15 years, June Berzin was instrumental in the management of the Section, then on the Board. Her diplomatic ways, leadership, commitment and energy, won her many accolades.

Working as a team with Proviseur Edgar Scherer and the Intendant, Roger Rousseau, she helped propel the establishment into a leadership role in European international education.

Thanks to her determination, the American Section weathered its first crises and emerged as a leader within the Lycée International.

Her great resolve was also exemplified when, at the age of 67, she returned to Ohio State to complete the Bachelors degree she had started four decades earlier.

June Berzin, born June 1, 1915, passed away December 20, 2010. She was 95 years old.

Linda Berzin Karma ’76, Marilyn Berzin Smolen ‘70, and Steven Berzin ’68 SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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60 Directors

JUNE BERZIN

DAVID GRAHAM

BILL MOON

1962 - 1968

1968 - 1975

1975 - 1979

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” - Dwight David Eisenhower

The Lycée International is a unique and challenging place, and the American Section has been extremely lucky to have had ten inspirational leaders whose dedication and integrity have been instrumental in advancing the Section despite frequent obstacles.

Bill Moon

Secondary School teacher, 1972 -1975 Director, 1975 - 1979 I had applied for a teaching position in the American Section in 1971, and I was on the “short list” for interviews.

However, Section Director David Graham chose another candidate, so with my wife, Mary and two toddlers, we went to the Greek island of Euboea where I taught ESL in a dynamic frontesterion. In April we received two wonderful gifts: a baby daughter and a letter from David Graham offering me a teaching position in the American Section. So in August, 1972 the five of us flew from Athens to London, and then boarded a train for the Gare du Nord where we were met by David’s wife Dorothea and by Allan and Linda Wenger, teachers at the LI. We settled into one of their cars with a card table, some chairs, a basket of food and a bottle of wine and off we sped to what was to be our little house in Le Vésinet for the next couple of years. At the house, we had a brief tour and then, at the card table, we shared a meal with Dorothea, Allan and Linda who, like David, would become lifelong friends.

From 1972 to 1975, I taught English and History, and got involved in theatrical productions in the Section.

These would later expand into a full-blown theater program, including an option for the International Baccalaureate. In 1975, David told me that he would like 12

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to step down as Director of the Section and wondered if I would be interested in taking his place. At the time, I wondered if this kind of switch would work for us, but it did work, quite well I think, and mainly because David possessed the kind of honesty and integrity to make sure that it would. In my years as Director, I hired many wonderfully talented individuals, who all contributed in enormous ways to the quality of instruction in the American Section and to the quality of community at the Lycée.

From 1975 to when I left in 1979, I worked with the one-and-only Edgar Scherer, Proviseur, and other members of the Lycée administration to create national section programs at a local collège and another lycée. I also worked to vastly expand the theater program at the Lycée, directing cabaret and theater productions. One of these was Cabaret ’76, and how wonderful it is that I have been asked by members of the LI Alumni Association to “redirect” a couple of numbers from this performance for the 60th anniversary celebration on June 2, 2012!

Working in the community of the Lycée International was a unique and seminal experience for me and my family. As a teacher, I learned to look through pieces written by students for whom English was a second or even a third language, to see what they were trying to get at, often something startling and sometimes something profound. My family and I also learned to value the experience and wisdom of cultures different from ours. However, there were also challenges for us and other Americans, like those associated with the struggle to learn and to be successful within the French system of education.

In 1979, I accepted an offer from the Mission Laïque Française to become the founding Director of the International Section of the Complexe Scolaire de SophiaAntipolis near Valbonne, a position I held until 1984 when we returned to the United States. Since then, I have held positions as Principal of the John Wooman School in California, Headmaster of the Awty International School in Houston, Texas, Director of the International School of Luxembourg and Primary School Principal at the Atlanta International School. In 2002, I and others founded the International Community School, a public (charter) school for refugee and American children in Decatur, Georgia. In 2008, Mary and I retired from ICS. Since then I have helped to create a foundation which serves the needs of a local community with a large percentage of refugee families.

All of these experiences have been good, and all of them came, in one way or another, from our years at the Lycée International. My family and I remain grateful for what we learned there and for all the friends we made during the years we lived there.

Vive le Lycée International!

DON ALLEN

NANCY MAGAUD

MICHAEL VEITCH

SCOT HICKS

TED FAUNCE

SEAN LYNCH

KELLY HERRITY

1979 - 1983

1983 – 1990

1990 – 1997

1997 – 1998

1998 – 2006

2006 – 2011

2011 – present

Nancy Magaud

Secondary School teacher, 1975 - 1983 Assistant Director, 1978 - 1983 Director, 1983 - 1990 “The dust never settles,” they told me when I joined the faculty of the American Section at the Lycée International in 1975. It was true, it never did. Life there remained lively, challenging, full of surprises, of both difficulties and satisfactions, until I left the Section in 1990.

Our three sons were already primary students at the Lycée, but I had been working elsewhere in Paris teaching English. As I got to know the Lycée better, I realized it was really the place for me, too. So I applied to teach there, but did not get a position the first year, since David Graham, the Director, and the Board were not sure I had the right profile. I offered to spend my spare time doing whatever would make me into a better candidate: observing classes, doing research and reading, and helping to correct papers. The next year, Bill Moon, who had become Director, hired me to teach English. That was the beginning of a wonderful fifteen years.

After three years on the faculty, I became Assistant Director, heading up the new Anglophone Section at the Collège des Hauts Grillets in cooperation with the Lycée British Section. I remember being asked to speak to the British Section parents’ assembly so they could be sure that a New England Yankee could be entrusted with the mixed classes we planned to run. We were expected to respect both British and American spelling rules, since the students would be going back to their respective sections at the Lycée when they entered Seconde; we taught our own Section curricula in 6ème and 4ème, the British taking 5ème and 3ème.

I became Director of the Section in 1983, and my tenure lasted until the fall of 1990. During this period, I worked with over 50 different Board members, under seven different presidents! Part of the reason for this complexity and turnover was the existence of three separate Sections in three different schools (whose heads were not interested in cooperating with each other in any active way). Besides the LISG, there were sections in the Collège Pierre et Marie Curie, and one at the Collège des Hauts Grillets which was subsequently moved to the Lycée Marcel Roby. I had overall responsibility for all three sections, although each section had an American Section head in charge on the spot. Each Section had a Board of its own, one member of which then belonged to the American Section overall Board. The most difficult feature of all this was that the Section Board had established three separate geographical

catchment districts to route students to one of the three schools, and there were no exceptions to these rules.

Music was one of the enjoyable sidelines of my Lycée positions. From the beginning, in collaboration with Bill Moon, I had the enormous pleasure of being music director and accompanist for shows he directed. At the time, the American Section also had a tradition of annual “Drama-Concert” evenings, at which every class level from 6ème through 3ème presented a play or musical they had written themselves. Every member of every class had to be involved in some way in the presentation. The evenings were marathons for the audience, but parents and students loved the tradition.

For several years I met with French Ministry of Education authorities to work out agreements for what eventually became the OIB, or Option Internationale du Baccalauréat.

The American Section had a particular challenge, since unlike the other Sections, except the British, we had no national curriculum or exam which could be used to frame the option. I negotiated with the American College Board to get their agreement to allow us to refer to them as our authority of reference. The first session of the OIB was held in 1984. It was due mainly to this work on the creation of the OIB and its American Option that I later had the great honor to be awarded the Palmes Académiques in 2005.

What else do I remember? Edgar Scherer, “Monsieur le Proviseur”, under whose tenure I spent all but the last year at the Lycée. The Lycée was his life, and if there ever was an institution that was “the lengthened shadow of one man”, it was the Lycée International during M. Scherer’s tenure. Board meetings which lasted until the wee small hours of the morning, faculty meetings with lively debates, conseils de classe, Student Council picnics on the Lycée athletic field, field trips to the Louvre and elsewhere, a visit to the Model United Nations in The Hague, dances and shows and parties… it goes on and on, because of the variety and number of activities in the life of the Section.

After I left the Lycée in 1990, I did not entirely lose touch with the Section. In 1996, I served temporarily as Director of the American Section at Marcel Roby. I also served later for five years as the Inspectrice Générale Délégué for the OIB American Option. The Lycée International is a wonderful and unique place, which one realizes more and more in traveling about the educational circuit. The American Section has always tried to represent the best that the American educational tradition has to offer, and that is a challenge. I know the difficulties and frustrations of the Director’s position, but I also know its pleasures, joys, and satisfactions. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve education in this way and in this place.

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

13

60 Directors Michael Veitch

Teacher and Marcel Roby Director, 1986 – 1990 Director, 1990 - 1997 I began my tenure with the American Section as both teacher of American Studies and Coordinator (under Nancy Magaud’s supervision) at the American Section of the Lycée Marcel Roby from 1986 through 1990.

I was appointed Nancy’s successor as Director of the American Section of the Lycée International in 1990 and remained there until 1997, teaching an occasional course in American Literature for 3émes and 2ndes.

I have so many memorable moments of my Lycée years – it is almost impossible to choose one! The best three are: 1. Being hired by Nancy Magaud despite a wardrobe malfunction (pants ripped stem to stern while helping an American Section teacher move boxes) right before my final interview!

2. Playing clarinet and sax in the “faculty orchestra” for Guys and Dolls – again under Nancy’s delightful musical direction.

3. Casting and directing Tennessee Williams’s Orpheus Descending with the Class of ’95 (a class that remains near and dear to my heart)!

My most enjoyable and entertaining challenges during my eleven-year stint at the school came from working as an American in the multi-sectional/European setting that is the LISG. It was very exciting when the Japanese Section joined the section ranks (others, I know, have followed).

The Lycée is a totally unique school – there is truly no place like it! There is such an underlying buzz – with so many national/international points of view expressed by such a rich contingent of colleagues – truly the best and the brightest I have ever known!

I left the American Section to return to the United States in 1997. There I was the Director of American Affairs for the Lycée Rochambeau in Washington, D.C. for a year, and then was appointed Head of the Madison Country Day School (Madison, WI), where I stayed until 2001. We then moved to back to Chicago, my hometown, where I was appointed Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where I had the privilege of getting to know the soon-to-be President Barack Obama and admitting his daughters to the school. Since 2008 I have been the Middle School Principal at the Frances Xavier Warde School of Chicago, from which I will retire (semi-!) this spring.

I am looking forward to reuniting with old friends and colleagues at the LISG’s 60th BD Party!

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C O M PA S S M A G A Z I N E

Scot Hicks Marcel Roby Director, 1996-1997 Director, 1997-1998 Secondary School teacher, 2002 - present I came as Director to Marcel Roby (then a Cité Scolaire) in 1996/7, the year in which CS Marcel Roby and Lycée Debussy were reorganized into Lycée Jeanne d’Albret and Collège Marcel Roby and the American Sections were merged. I was then interim director of the combined Section in 1997/8. I returned to teach in 2002 after heading a school for four years in the US. That reorganization/merger year was particularly memorable of course: I don’t think I’ve ever been a member of so many conseils d’ administration or committees, what have you - or wanted to. Another memorable moment would be my children’s graduation(s) - knock on wood!

There are a number of challenges involved in teaching bilingual children in a parallel education system such as the Lycée International. But mostly it’s just fun. You have to get used to different expectations of teacher and student, also the students’ workloads and sheer number of subjects. Then there are the ways students (and their parents) sometimes play section and French sides off one another. It’s a wonderful mess really, minestrone.

My experience at the Lycée is both similar and different to other places I have worked.

I’ve been very lucky to have taught in US independent schools, US international, British international, and now French international schools. They were all quite different, unique really, in their own way. But the fundamental things are the same. The Lycée is just a bit crazier is all.

Ted Faunce

Director, 1998 - 2006 I had the honor of serving as Director of the American Section from 1998-2006, an eight-year period that I believe to be, by a narrow margin, the longest such tenure in the Section. After a long sequence of directors who had emerged from the Section’s teaching ranks, I arrived fresh from a US independent school whose culture and regulations could not have been more different from the Lycée International. Suffice it to say that my first year or two required quite a learning curve, one that was guided with wisdom by colleague mentors such as Barbara Moross and Adrienne Covington, and of course the British-American rock of the Section, Mary Friel.

Among the more memorable moments, apart from the Lycee’s 50th festivities, I count 9/11, when, shortly after 3pm, Jacques Monnet told me about the towers, and about ten minutes later the press somehow made it past the school’s security to enter my office. It was an extraordinary few days and weeks, with an outpouring of support from

French and national section colleagues that showed the LI at its best. I recall at a charity concert organized by the Pompiers des Yvelines being called up to the stage to actually try my hand, à la Simon Lockwood, at conducting a Glen Miller piece.

Annual highlights of great emotion are the Thanksgiving pageant, the OIB épreuves and posting of results, the extraordinary multi-national graduation ceremony, and the warm conviviality of the many pots offered by national sections.

I consider the double enseignement at the LI to be a singular success and remarkable model that deserves to be replicated outside France. The challenge to time on task is considerable, as it is in any dual language system, but, having had a son who went from Français Spécial through the Bac (by the skin of his teeth), I can say that the LI does a remarkable job with motivated students.

As a lifelong language learner and believer in dual language education, I could not resist the pull to the Mandarin-English dual language programme of the Chinese International School in Hong Kong (MaternelleTerminale, 1430 students), where I have served as Headmaster for the past six years. The challenges of this distinguished IB school are similar to those of the LI in terms of managing a world-class education in a dual language context, and yet very different by virtue of the particular challenges of Chinese. I look forward to returning to see my friends and to see how Chinese is faring at the school that did so much to shape my vision for education.

Sean Lynch

Student, 1981 - 1984 Secondary School teacher, 1996 – 2006 Director, 2006 - 2011 First and foremost, I had the immense good fortune of passing my Baccalaureate at the Lycée International, in 1984. For the last time in the history of the school, my fellow students and I were able to take the bilingual version of the International Baccalaureate, dit le Baccalauréat de Genève.

In the following year, the French Ministry of Education decided no longer to allow French public schools to offer this program and created in its place the French Baccalaureate with International Option, otherwise known as the Option Internationale du Baccalauréat or OIB. I then returned to St. Germain-en-Laye in 1996, where I remained for the following 15 years, fulfilling numerous responsibilities on behalf of the American Section, ranging from Teacher to Department Chair to College Counselor to Director, all with a sense of extraordinary privilege. The chance I had to devote myself to the service of Lycée International students was made even more special by the fact that for much of this period I had the exceptional honor of working with my mother, Joan Lynch, who retired in 2009 after 28 years as teacher and Head of the English Department in the American Section. And last,

but not least, I have been affiliated with the school as a very proud and enthusiastic parent. My two daughters, Esther and Myriam, both attended the Lycée International, first in the externé system and then as full-time students.

Developed over the course of three decades and in countless complementary ways, suffice it to say that my relationship with the American Section has been an integral part of my life!

Citing the most memorable moment of my time at the Lycée International may be one of the hardest questions I have been asked, given the innumerable memories I have of the wonderful spirit which has always prevailed in the American Section. Choosing just one is...well, impossible.

Please do forgive me for not being able to select fewer than three. 1. Having the chain on my motorcycle break on the way to my English Baccalaureate examination in Terminale, arriving 50 minutes late for the four-hour test, sitting down at my desk breathless and covered in grease, and gathering the calm which I needed to start writing by remembering how well my American Section English teachers had educated me. I knew they had taught me what I needed; my job was to draw on that teaching, which is what I proceeded to do. 2. Co-teaching 5ème with my mother; I taught history and she taught literature. Our lessons became so well-integrated and the educational experience of our students so mutually reinforcing that there was no limit to what our shared class of 20 was able to achieve. I will never forget the medieval banquet we organized at the end of the year, at once phenomenally joyful and uncontrollably sad. We shed tears to think it was over. The memory of that day is as vivid now as it was more than a decade ago. 3. Going from ideas into action in the field of international service-learning once I had assumed the role of Director in the American Section.

Thanks to the joint leadership of Board member Brian Ball, teacher Beccy Haugen and several dedicated Terminale students who had long dreamed of founding a community service project in the developing world, we created the India Project which is still flourishing in the American Section today. Global citizenship which makes a difference.

To my mind, there are only benefits to bilingual education, particularly when the educators involved are sensitive, as they are at the Lycée International, to the cultural dimension of what they are doing. Bilingual education is most effective when it is bicultural, with equal respect being paid and equal affection being given to both of the linguistic-cultural literacies and affinities being cultivated. Sounds like the St. Germain model, n’est-ce pas?

I am extremely fortunate to have spent my entire life at the juncture between the French and American educational systems, but everything began as a student at the Lycée International. There is no doubt that my own commitment to school as a community of learning, to education as a pluri-lingual, pluri-cultural experience, to personal growth as something whose ultimate purpose is service to the other was sparked in St. Germain-en-Laye. To everyone from whom I have ever had the pleasure of learning there: thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart!

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

15

60 Teachers

“Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember.

Involve me and I learn.”

- Benjamin Franklin

American Section teachers have been involving students for the past sixty years; serving as life-long sources of inspiration and motivation for several generations. We hope you enjoy the memories of seven of our former teachers collected below.

Penny Huguenot

Primary School teacher, 1965 - 1975 I graduated from college in June 1964, got married to a Frenchman, Jacques, in July in New York and then moved to France. June Berzin hired me to start the primary American Civilian Section and was my mentor throughout the years when I taught in the elementary grades, from 1965 until 1975. To me, June Berzin WAS the American Civilian Section and she was completely devoted to the school. There was also an American Military Section at the SHAPE school until 1966 or 1967.

My most memorable moments at the Lycee International were with M. Scherer or M. le Proviseur, as we called him.

The first time I met him was in the hallway of the lycée when I was substituting in 5ème and le Proviseur yelled at me for being in the hall. He thought I was a student! We got along very well after that! As principal in the primary I would go with parents to meet le Proviseur at 10pm.

Parents thought this was strange but le Proviseur was such a busy man. He never counted his time and was completely devoted to his job and students. In spite of his austere exterior, he was a very endearing person.

Bilingual children are very special, as they are more creative and find solutions to problems and situations with more ease than other children. To bilingual children “a glass” is also “un verre” so there are always several possibilities. I went to many conferences on bilingual children and recent articles on bilingualism confirm the above.

American children have a big shock when they are first faced with the French school system. We in the American 16

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educational system have always encouraged children. I have always thought that the best educational system would be a combination of the French and American systems and this is what you get at the Lycée International. Having six hours of national section helps the students have a balanced curriculum and experience.

As I recall, there was always a lot of cooperation among the national sections. Anne Koeckman from the Dutch section had us participate in some Dutch traditions at the Château and Dilys Barré, who was principal of the British primary, would co-ordinate activities with the American Section.

I stopped teaching in 1975 to raise my two sons but ended up teaching part time at Institut Notre Dame in St. Germain-en-Laye. In this way I was able to enter my son in the 6ème bilingual section. My other son entered there a few years later and ended up at McGill University in Canada.

I taught there for several years and was principal for the Primary English program.

My whole life in France has been an international experience. My two sons, Richard and Christian, who were born and raised in France, now live and work in New York City. They both still feel international and have friends from many countries. My granddaughter, Ayla, age 8, speaks both English and French and has dual citizenship.

I am retired and living in the south of France, where I am active in an international women’s group. I started an annual book sale which earns money for a children’s charity in France. I belong to both a French and English Book Group. Reading has always been very important to me and teaching in the primary enabled me to pass on my love of reading to my students.

I have very fond memories of the Lycée International, especially of all the wonderful and interesting students that I taught. I still remember many of the French teachers and the national section teachers plus the American staff.

Above: Peggy Huguenot with her 9ème class in 1965, today (in color photo) and below: in 1975 with Josephine Markham (center) and Sandra Schepard (right).

Chris Rochester

Secondary School teacher, 1975-1980 I taught in the American Section from 1975-1980. What was originally intended to be one or two years in France turned out to be ten. I taught primarily Première and Terminale, although I also taught Seconde and 3ème. My main subject was IB English Literature, at both subsidiary and higher levels.

It is difficult to construct a hierarchy of memorable moments and then select the one at the top, because my five years at the Lycée were an intense and memorable experience from beginning to end. So let me mention a few memories that immediately come to mind. One of my students won the Concours Général in English and was invited to a reception at the Elysée, where she met President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. I also remember a marathon conseil de classe that was entering its fourth hour. One of my students was at risk of being kicked out of the Lycée. I believed she was making a serious effort and had the potential to succeed, so I argued strongly on her behalf. My comments were not well taken by the French, until the math teacher spoke up.

It was one of those wonderful moments when the two cultures gently collided and then found an intelligent compromise, for the student stayed in the Lycée. But the most memorable moments for me came when one of my students would say that they liked the way I taught and looked forward to being in my classroom.

The complexity of teaching in the American Section combined the challenges of teaching mixed classes of native speakers and ESL students, with those of operating inside a very different educational culture, which was of course the encompassing culture of the Lycée. When my students and I were in the classroom, things went wonderfully. The difficulties usually came from the extreme pressure the students were under in their French classes. It was usually fascinating, but sometimes appalling, to watch the two educational systems and philosophies co-exist. It was a process of never-ending mutual adjustment. Success for the students depended on the relative open-mindedness and commitment by all teachers to dual-language and dual-philosophy education. Neither side was “right.” I like to think that one of the most important things we in the American Section gave to our students was space, breathing room, an eye in the storm, a place where you could not only learn but also question, slow down, and be a human being.

The other places I taught were the International School of Moshi in Tanzania (for one year), and the American School of Paris from 1981-1985. The Moshi and American schools were traditional international schools. At ASP I taught IB Economics, IB European History, IB English and AP American History. It was a good experience, but, to be honest, it did not have the intensity of the Lycée. It seemed very placid in comparison! The Lycée, you see, could drive you crazy one day, and then reward you with something extraordinary the next. It is just a singular institution. Part public school, part prep school, part traditional, part innovative, formidably ambitious, at times cruel, at times challenging.

I moved from Paris to Washington, D.C. at the beginning of 1985 to begin a career as a Foreign Service Officer (diplomat) for the United States Department of State. My career in the State Department lasted for over twenty-two years. I worked at the American Embassy in Japan, Central African Republic, France, Sweden, Senegal, Bangladesh and Belgium. Sometimes my work was as the Cultural and Press Attaché, at other times it was as a Political Officer. I also did a lot of speechwriting for Ambassadors and Secretaries of State, and worked on nine or ten official visits abroad by Presidents Reagan, Bush I, Clinton and Bush II. I retired from the State Department in 2007 and moved from Brussels to Corvallis, Oregon. I am enjoying retirement in this very pleasant town of 55,000 people in the middle of the Willamette Valley in western Oregon. But I am not idle. I am an elected member of the Corvallis School Board, the CorvallisOregon State University Symphony, and Program Director and Board member for Chamber Music Corvallis.

Evolution of American Section Enrollment 800 700 600 number of students estimated number of students

500 400 300 200 100 0 1952

1962

1972

1982

1992

2002

2012

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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60 Teachers Roxanne Pavageau

Primary teacher, 1976-1993

Learning with Mrs. Pavageau was an adventure. In first grade, sounds became stories: piglets screeched the “ee”, a cow-boy’s lasso whipped the “wh”. As our mastery of grammar became more sophisticated, letters in contractions “went on vacation” leaving an empty apostrophe-hook where their hat used to hang. In fourth grade in the pre-internet era, we mailed letters in our wobbly handwriting to travel agencies to collect brochures and illustrate our State Reports.

Learning became an exploration of the possibilities of sounds, grammar and geography.

Beyond the classroom, Mrs. Pavageau had the gift of delivering life-lessons simple enough for a six-year-old to understand, yet treasured and recalled years later.

Stuck on a tricky grammar point, or in an argument with one’s desk-neighbor, we would go up to our teacher: “Mrs. Pavageau, I have a problem!” After a lengthy description of our day’s quandary, she would inevitably return our question: “Now that was the problem. What is the solution?”, congratulating us for formulating our troubles, yet gently coaxing us to move on to resolutions, in any space of our lives.

To this day, I view my research in social sciences as a pursuit of adventures into unknown fields, looking for solutions beyond the policy problems I encounter, which I owe in part to Mrs. Pavageau’s enthusiasm in defining creativity as a path towards progress and knowledge.

- Aurélie Ouss ‘01

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Roxanne Pavageau was a pillar of the American Section Primary School from the time she was hired, in the fall of 1976, to her death in 1993. Although she taught many grade levels, Roxanne was best known for teaching generations of students to read. She developed the first grade entrance test still in use today, and contributed greatly to the development of our Plus program. Her fascination with world cultures led to the development of the Continent Capers project, which was much-loved by more than two decades of fourth grade students.

Roxanne was ahead of her time in many ways; she was extremely interested in innovative technologies and many brain development issues now taken for granted. It is safe to bet that her former students hear her famous “Don’t cry, try!” at many difficult junctures in their lives!

-MJG

Roxanne with her First graders, including Carl and Aurélie in 1990.

“Red lights up your head!” Mrs. Pavageau would sing when marking corrections in our fledgling essays.

There was never any sting or bite in her words - Mrs. Pavageau was all warmth, empathy and encouragement.

In her classroom, we worked with energy and enthusiasm, not because we feared the red pen, but because of the evident pleasure she took in marking our progress.

Mrs. Pavageau taught me to read.

But she taught me so much more.

Life in her classroom was a model for what life should be outside of it.

Generosity, camaraderie and a real

zest for learning were currency.

When I stumbled, I never felt threatened, only encouraged. When I celebrated, she genuinely shared the excitement. And when I laughed she joined in. It was a rare thing, then, to share real laughter with a grown-up.

Twenty years after I first heard the red-pen song her words still ring true. Today, I spend my days as a neuroscience research graduate student staining brain tissue for examination under a microscope... using fluorescent red dyes.

Red lights up your head indeed!

- Carl Schoonover ‘01

Eric von Dorster

Seconday School teacher, 1980 - 1992 My twelve years teaching in the American Section at the Lycée International were the best years of my professional life. I arrived in 1980, hired by Don Allen to take over an odd mixture of history and English classes and to run the theater program. Over the years, I wound up teaching every grade from 6ème through Terminale. As Head of the English Department I helped develop the American Option of the OIB. My fondest memories are of the theater program. In twelve years I directed over thirty plays, a wide range of works from Euripides to Vaclav Havel. The most challenging effort was performing Hamlet and Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead in repertory with the cast playing the same roles in both plays. For staging, our most interesting show was Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus performed in the American Cathedral in Paris. In 1989, we contributed to the Lycée’s bicentennial celebration with a bilingual version of Paul Foster’s Tom Paine. Another memorable event was the annual trip to London that Joan Lynch and I took to expose our students to the latest works at the National Theatre, the West End and on the fringe. My students were so eager to continue to work with each other that I directed them as alumni in a production that went to the Avignon Festival. I directed a faculty production of Stoppard’s Travesties, with teacher Tony Jones in the lead. My own attempt at acting was restricted to playing an American rock star in Animalen, a musical presented by the Swedish Section.

If I were to try to pick a single moment that I recall the most vividly, it would be one that took place after our final performance of Marat/Sade at the Lycée Agricole. Future American Section Director Sean Lynch played the part of Marat. The play ends with all of the patients of the asylum at Charenton rioting and escaping. The actors stormed out and, staying in character, began to dance wildly on the lawn outside. When the audience exited, they were confronted not by classmates and children, but wild patients celebrating their freedom.

My students in the American Section were so extraordinary, not just for their intelligence and cultural experience but for their creativity and desire to learn. I am convinced that there is something about being bilingual that stimulates the brain to greater achievements. I have never found such eager learners again. After leaving the Lycée I spent three years as Head of English in Mansfield High School in Massachusetts, then two years at the French American International School in San Francisco and seven years at nearby Cupertino High School. In 2004, I decided to take some time off from teaching and moved back to France,

where over four years I wrote two novels and a study of the English playwright William Davenant. In 2009, I went back to teaching and took a job running the drama department in South View High School in Hope Mills, North Carolina, where I am currently still working.

Joan Lynch

Secondary School teacher, 1980-2009

Joan today with her husband Michael.

I taught in the American Section from l980 to 2008; English classes in their various forms depending on the grade level ranging from 6ème through Terminale. I particularly enjoyed the times when I taught 5ème and Terminale in the same year; there was such an interesting interplay of perspectives and insights.

I think my most memorable moments at the Lycée International were when M. Scherer was Proviseur. He was a unique educator who possessed a vision, humanity, and a love for each student under his care (and he knew them all!). Sometimes it was tough love but there was always respect shown for the student. It was a constant learning experience for anyone under his leadership. M. Scherer was Proviseur at the beginning of my teaching years at the Lycée, and it was with pride and humility that the circle of my teaching experience was completed in the American Section under the directorship of my son, Sean Lynch, a circle of leadership that fostered the care of the students in the American Section and in the Lycée International.

I was asked if there are any particular challenges in teaching bilingual children. This is best answered by a recent article in the International Herald Tribune entitled, “Why Bilinguals are Smarter”. The challenge of teaching bilinguals is to find the pathways that will allow their intelligence to flourish, as well as the values that are inherent in the complex international environment of learning that is the Lycée International.

I have taught at other educational establishments.

Suffice it to say, the students of the American Section and of the Lycée International achieve my highest praise.

This is due to their refined intelligence, their sensitivity to others, and, ultimately, due to their ability to respond to the larger world in a meaningful way.

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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60 Teachers Matthew Tobin

Secondary School teacher, 1988 - 1997 I began teaching history and directing the MUN program at the Lycée (which I still simply call “the Lycée”, as if it were the only one of its kind-how true!) back in September, 1988.

I was exactly 30 years old at the time. I left in 1997, after nine of the most exciting, informative, challenging, rewarding, trying and memorable years of my life. We normally assume that teachers are meant to instruct students, but I wonder now, looking back on that barelybelievable magical mystery tour, if any of my students learned as much as I did. I hope they did, and if any of them are reading me now, know that I remember you well, and I wish you well.

I was hired by Nancy Magaud, Section Director at the Lycée, and by Michael Veitch, who ran the American Section at Marcel Roby. I taught between the two schools for seven years, and put many miles on my trusty Peugeot bike in the process. I often left home early in the morning in the rain, hail, sleet or snow to go to one of the schools, then commuted in the day to the other one, and then raced back again for meetings or conseils de classe in the evening, finally pedaling my heavy bag of corrections back home late at night. At the time I sometimes cursed the traffic, the weather and the hills but now I realize how lucky I was to be teaching in not one but two of the finest schools in the Paris area and getting lots of free time and exercise at the same time.

By my own confession I was no expert in modern and contemporary history when I took the job. (Nancy and Michael knew this perfectly well, but trusted me anyway.

I guess Directors have to be willing to gamble once in a while.) In fact, I am a medievalist by trade, and I had been devoting most of my time to research in medieval religious history. Fortunately, many of my students were already

Matthew with his mother and wife, Saadia, in California, April 2012.

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resident experts in history and international relations thanks to their participation in the Lycée’s illustrious MUN program. When I saw my schedule that first September, I did not know what “MUN” stood for. I found out quickly when I was called to the Proviseur’s office. The Proviseur at that time was M. Scherer who was already an institution and a legend at the Lycée International. As there had been a minor incident the previous year, he wanted me to reassure him that there would be no more problems on MUN trips to The Hague in Holland.

M. Scherer was an impressive, sometimes intimidating, character: he spoke with a heavy, sometimes incomprehensible, Alsacian accent; he often wandered the halls of the Lycée in a big Russian fur hat he had acquired on a school trip to the USSR; and he was determined to convince me that with MUN (“le Moon”, as he called it, much to my confusion) I had taken on a heavy responsibility and I would have to prove my mettle. I left his office wondering if I had made a mistake moving to Paris and taking this job.

As it turned out, the team of MUN veterans took me under their wing and taught me an enormous amount.

Many of the Terminales in that group had been doing MUN since 4ème. They assured me that M. Scherer could be an ogre when dealing with parents, teachers and administrators, but that he really believed in and supported the students. That was all I needed to know. I sat back and watched while those young diplomats organized wild late-evening debates, did huge research projects on their own, and selflessly trained and inspired young recruits to the program. I took 40 students to The Hague that first year, and our team won the grand prize out of several hundred participating schools from around the world. As a matter of fact, our team took the top prize at The Hague for the nine years I was there. Fellow MUN directors would often ask me what our secret of success was. There was no secret - just the spirit of excellence, fair play, self-confidence and devotion to the cause of teamwork in learning and sharing knowledge. I was very lucky to be part of that team.

MUN was one of the most memorable aspects of my job, but certainly not the only one. Playing guitar for the Ameritunes, taking part in a Section play, singing with my students and colleagues, and just teaching so many amazing students made my years in St. Germain a unique and enriching experience.

Looking back on my Lycée years it is like looking into a kaleidoscope of intense, illustrious faces of students and colleagues. Those years form a central chapter of the story of my life now. Perhaps the most significant thing was learning what it is like to become part of an academic community. That community, like an extended family, lives on and takes sustenance from all its members, who in turn are nourished and uplifted by it. I am considerably older now and (hopefully) a bit wiser, but I will always cherish the memory of my Lycée days. “Teach your children well,” the old song goes. I did my best to follow that good advice then and I still do today. As a teacher I know that willingness to learn is the most valuable thing we have, and that goes for parents and teachers as well as for kids and students. That’s what I learned in school-thanks, Lycée!

Barbara Roush

Seconday School teacher, 1984 - 2005 I taught in the American Section from 1984 to 2005 – all levels of English (both collège and lycée) and 6ème – 5ème history, which was medieval history when I first started out. I loved that time period, and Paris is so rich, with the narrow streets of the Latin Quarter, the Cluny Museum, the old wall of Philip Augustus, etc. I was at the satellite schools (Pierre et Marie Curie in Le Pecq and Marcel Roby, which is now called Jeanne d’Albret.) Eventually, Pierre et Marie Curie closed, and the American Section at Roby/d’Albret merged back with its parent section at the Lycée International in the late 90s. At that point, I began teaching only lycée-level classes on the LI campus.

I don’t have a particular memorable moment to recount because there are so many to choose from: Proviseur Scherer in his pajamas interrupting a late-night meeting of the Board (I was faculty rep) to tell us it was time to go home; Fred Da, giving a hilarious sexual interpretation of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, after he had become disgusted with some of the far-fetched critiques we’d been looking at; barely-awake Terminales at 8am drinking cups of coffee in order to be able to tackle James Joyce; the wild trip to Greece with Ellen Fournier, Tony Jones, Kevin Capé, and the whole American Section of Pierre et Marie Curie…and…well, I could tell a lot more!

In general I found the students in the Lycée International system more interesting than their peers. Due to their exposure to two cultures, they brought much insight to their interpretations of literature. There were sometimes problems in trying to teach the proper form for an essay, for the French approach the matter differently: their introduction contains questions; the conclusion is presented at

the end. In contrast, Americans want an introduction with a “hook” leading up to a thesis statement. After many years I learned to make a chart to explain the problem.

The LI is truly unique with all its different national sections and its underlying French curriculum. Previously I had taught at Newton High in Massachusetts, Princeton High in New Jersey, and the American School of Paris in St. Cloud. The first two are totally American, and ASP has “international” students who have been exposed to an American curriculum, wherever they’ve come from. It’s a very different ambience; the hours are shorter, one can take electives, and sports play a large role. I found the LI to be very different also from Roby/d’Albret. The American Section had never been totally accepted at the latter; one teacher explained to me that we weren’t taken seriously because we looked as if we were having fun. (Michael Veitch, for example would change from his suit to his sports clothes and play basketball with the collège boys.)

At the LI the teachers on the French side were more open to other cultures, and I made many friends among them. And there were so many activities – plays, picnics, concerts, debates, section cocktails parties - there was never a dull moment. However there was also a lot of pressure on both students and teachers – that was the one negative aspect.

I retired from the American Section in 2005 and have been living the life of Riley ever since. Well, almost. For the first two years I was chauffeur/slave for my granddaughter Kaïa, who attended the Français Spécial class in 6ème at the LI and remained for another year. She is back with her mother in Oregon, and I’m enjoying my apartment in Paris, where I moved three years ago.

Nationality breakdown of American Section students (based on reported nationalities of both parents) OTHER/US 3%

OTHER 9%

US/US 21%

FR/US 27%

OTHER/US 7%

FR/FR 40%

1992 / 1993

OTHER 13%

US/US 6%

FR/US 37%

FR/FR 37%

2011 / 2012 SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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60 Alumni Have you ever wondered what it was like to be in the American Section when it was first started? How it was to go to Section classes in the Château? Whether the teachers today have the same approach as they did 25 or even 50 years ago? In honor of the Section’s 60th birthday, we’ve tracked down an alumnus from each decade to tell you what it was like to go to school here in their day.

1950’s B E R Z I N

FA M I LY

When we started at the SHAPE School in the 1950’s it was a very different place. The school was made up of half international and half French local children. Thanks to the Americans, all kindergarten children were given a big glass of milk at recess.

I arrived in Kindergarten, Grande Section Maternelle, in 1955. My sisters, Marilyn and Linda, joined the Petite Section Maternelle in 1957 and 1962, and we all spent our next twelve years at the Lycée before moving to the US for college and graduate school.

The primary classrooms were a cluster of little buildings (former dépendances of the Château d’Hennemont) at the bottom of the hill where the maternelle building now stands. We eventually moved into pre-fabs, heated with coal stoves. The area around the school was agricultural. Marilyn and I still remember a farmer killing a pig outside the Primary School playground while we all watched during recess, fascinated!

It was a typical French school: days were long - from 9h to 17h - and we only had two hours of gym per week. The Primary School Director, Mrs. Eterson, took us for walks in the woods at 16h30 and let us run and play.

We straggled out of the forest at 17h30 to be picked up by our parents; there was no real supervision.

Discipline was also typical of the times.

We walked into classrooms two by two. We stood when an adult entered the classroom.

Being sent to the corner was typical. And, once I remember the Proviseur, M. Scherer,

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1960’s

THE SCA LE S BROTH ER S

Linda Berzin Karma, Steven Berzin and Marilyn Berzin Smolen; Steven in 1956.

telling an unruly kid, “Rentre chez toi, fais-toi couper les cheveux et ne reviens pas ici tant que ce n’est pas fait.”

The cantine was in the Château along with the Section classrooms - our American Section classroom was on the top floor.

As is still the case today, I had six hours of American class per week. The school was run by the American military, and the first teachers were the wives of military personnel. It was probably in 1962 – when I was in 5ème – that the American Civil Section was founded. The military could no longer educate civilian children because of liability questions, so we co-existed with the American Military Section until 1967 when NATO was forced to leave France.

In Middle School we had cooking and sewing classes. By then Building E had been constructed and classrooms and kitchens were located there. We learned to make things like pâte feuilletée and pâte sablée, to bind books and work leather. I also took lots of languages at school – in addition to English and French, I had German, Spanish, Greek and Latin.

I passed my Bac in 1968, along with 15 other American Section students. It was a crazy and exceptional year – the Bac had no written component, it was comprised entirely of public orals. Our teachers were very motivated and took a personal interest in tutoring students for the exam as their classes were cancelled for weeks.

Following the Bac I went to Harvard with advanced standing (2nd year), and earned an MA and BA at Harvard in applied mathematics, and then law degrees from Oxford and Harvard. Post-grad I clerked for Justice Kennedy in the Court of Appeals.

I’ve worked as a lawyer, banker, and the Deputy Commissioner of Economic Development for New York City. I’m now semi-retired, but am on several boards (school, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard).

I have three children and live in New York.

- Steven Berzin ‘68

The year was 1959, and our father was a young executive with Chrysler in Detroit when he was offered an expatriate assignment in Paris. At the time, there was a significant US military presence in France as well as a number of American companies opening branch offices in Paris, so the natural tendency was to enroll children in an American school with the idea of easy assimilation upon their return to the United States. Our parents took a very different view and instead enrolled the four Scales boys - Charles ’70 (8), Mike ’71 (6), Bob ’73 (4) and later John ’75 (2) – in the local French school in Le Vésinet. Four years went by, and it was apparent that someday the time would come when we would return to Detroit. Where the all-French schooling had so far been the best cultural immersion any young person could dream of, our parents realized that we were going to be at a disadvantage once parachuted into the US public school system. So in 1963 the four of us were enrolled in the American Section of what was then the Lycée International

Below: Bob, Charles, Mike and John in Le Vésinet, 1967 In color: Bob ‘73, Charles ‘70, John ‘75 and Mike ‘71 vacationing in Catalina today.

de L’OTAN, also commonly referred to as SHAPE School (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe). At the end of the 1966-1967 school year, we moved back to Detroit and only then did it become obvious how important those four years in the Lycée’s American Section program were. We fit right in when it came to our studies, though we did stand out a bit with our Beatle boots and Madras shirts that weren’t quite in fashion back in the USA. To go back to those early days, by the time we had gone through the first four years in Le Vésinet we were really French.

We did have our American friends of course, but the big eye-opener at the Lycée International was to find a multitude of young people from all nationalities who had come to France under very similar circumstances and whose parents had adopted a similar philosophy of assimilation.

There was no need to compromise as we continued to live our student lives the “French way”, with the added benefit of interspersed American classes to prepare us for that eventual transition, and a whole new horizon when it came to making friends – Mike can still hear Monsieur Decanis in 7ème calling out the names of classmates from Holland, Sweden or Norway, or throwing his small bits of chalk to get the attention of the young French cancre (class clown) at the back of the classroom.

That was over 45 years ago, and the four Scales brothers still have a lot of that international spirit in our blood. Charles moved to San Francisco following university because it was the most “European” of cities in the USA, and after years in the public sector is now a fine wine advisor (mostly French wine). Mike moved to Switzerland to become a chef but found his true calling in finance with food giant Nestlé, and lives on the eastern edge of Lac Léman to be close to work and the ski slopes. Bob went to work for a French automotive company, and still lives in the Detroit area as does our youngest brother John, who works as a financial advisor when not collecting memorabilia from Le Mans car races.

Our years at the Lycée International still bring back a flurry of memories, and we hope this short story on the Scales family experience will bring out some of your own and hopefully reach a few lost friends!

- Mike Scales ‘71

Above: The Cummiskey family in 2009 Back row: Sarah ’86, Jack, Mary Jean ’74, Peter ’80, Liz ’79, Frank Front row: Paul ’76, Geraldine, Jamie ’81, Kate ‘78.

Right: 1976 Student Council Yearbook photo with five Cumminskey members.

1980’s 1970’s

C U M M I S K E Y FA M I LY

AGNES & CECILE FRUMAN Agnès (who graduated in 1982) and I (1985) arrived at the Lycée in 1975 in 6ème and 9ème respectively. We were born in France (to an Argentine father and a French mother) and lived the first years of our lives in Le Pecq. In the early 70s our father’s job took the family to the US for four years, and when we returned to France, it was an easy choice for our parents to sign us up at the Lycée in the American Section. What better place to be raised bilingual and become true “internationalists”?

The Cummiskey family arrived at the Lycée International for the 1972-73 school year as IBM transplants (or “I’ve Been Moved” as it was often called). Our father, Frank J. Cummiskey, was president and director of IBM World Trade Europe, Middle East and Africa Corporation. Our two older brothers, already in college, didn’t move to France with us.

There were never less than six Cummiskey children at the school during the four and a half years that our family was in France – one year there were actually seven of us there: Mary Jean‘74, Paul’76, Kate’78, Liz’79, Peter’80, Jamie’81 and Sarah ‘86.

Fond memories include basketball with Mr. Graham, theater with Mr. Moon, the cabaret soirées, ski trips/classes de neige and classes de mer. Of course we have to mention Mario’s crêpes and school platters of “the best frites”, hallway games such as rubber band tag until you were caught by the Proviseur, and having friends from many countries. We were a strong presence on the Student Council - five of us in the same year!

Our family moved back to Connecticut at the end of 1976. Some 36 years later, most of us have retained a command of French.

Over the years our paths and careers include Agnès (center), 1ère in 1981 Cécile (2nd from right), 4ème in 1981. marketing, production, sales, legal, financial, investments, marriage and family. Thanks to social media, we’ve enjoyed reconnecting We both stayed at the LI until we’d with many of our friends from our time at completed the Baccalauréat. Agnès went the Lycée. on to Science Po and law school and has - Mary Jean Cummiskey Young ‘74 held several management positions with Albin Michel, a publishing company in Paris, where she is now Secretary General.

She has three children and has made a point of speaking to them in English.

I attended ESCP business school and Osaka University in Japan before starting a career in international development I’ve been working with the World Bank in Washington DC for the past 16 years.

Ironically, one of the reasons that our parents left the US in the mid-70’s was that they wanted to give their girls a European upbringing… Well, one generation later, I’m raising my two kids the American way, while giving them the wonderful opportunities that the LI gave me. My children aged 12 and 10 attend Washington International School and benefit from a strong bilingual education. They also speak some Turkish (my husband is a Turk) and Spanish, and

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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60 Alumni

Agnès (in brown jacket) and Cécile (in striped sweater) with their families. the eldest has started to learn Chinese.

We have very fond memories of our time at the Lycée. I remember the wonderful plays put on by the American Section that I had so much fun acting in (Marat/Sade, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead…). Agnès’ most memorable moment was acting in Hedda Gabler. We’ve both remained friends with many classmates. I regularly see Elisabeth Gomart ‘85, Patrick Parodi ‘85 and Marc Magaud ‘86 who live in DC, and I’ve remained in close contact with LI friends spread out across the world (in large part thanks to Facebook!). Agnès has remained very close to Charlotte Thouvard, Karen Sarappo, Georges Magaud, and Augustin Revel. The LI has left a lasting impression on both of us and opened up opportunities that we could not have dreamed of had we stayed in the mainstream French education.

- Cécile Fruman ‘85

1990’s

ANNE-LISE WOLFF

My time in the American Section was often my “breath of fresh air” in a sometimes very challenging French school environment.

Looking back, I am incredibly thankful to have benefitted from the unique qualities of both French and American educational systems and as an adult, I feel a profound appreciation for both cultures. The American Section allowed me to feel proud of my diverse background. I also look back in amazement at how much learning and personal growth was achieved through all of the extracurricular activities offered through the American Section.

So many of my favorite memories come from my time spent in the American Section at the Lycée Marcel Roby. My top three would have to be singing at the annual

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picnic as a member of The Marcelles (led by history teacher Mr. Tobin), crazy yet inspiring classroom assignments such as performing Macbeth in costume and peoplewatching at a Paris café à la Hemingway, and getting one of our resolutions passed on our MUN trip to The Hague.

I met some of my dearest friends through the American Section. In fact two of my bridesmaids were friends that I kept in touch with over the years from Lycée Marcel Roby! I was also thrilled to reconnect with several more American Section classmates and teachers through the internet.

My father was an engineer for a large international company and our family moved frequently. We arrived in SaintGermain-en-Laye from Montreal, Canada, in 1984 and my older sister Sophie joined the American Section in Collège Marcel Roby for its very first year. My brother Sebastien and I went to Ecole Henri Dunant and attended the American Section at the Lycée International two days a week. I moved to Collège Marcel Roby in 1986 and graduated in 1993 after completing a Bac S. After graduation I completed a degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Kent, then obtained a PhD in Child

Anne-Lise (far right) with classmates and teacher Barbara Roush in 1992; The Hollahan family today.

Clinical Psychology from McGill University, where I also met my future husband. We currently live in Ottawa, Canada, with our three children aged 6, 4, and 2, and I work part-time as a Pediatric Neuropsychologist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

- Anne-Lise Wolff Hollahan ‘93

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My family moved to France from Oklahoma in 1992, after my father accepted a position with the SNCF. What was supposed to be a three year adventure in Europe, turned into a nine year period of great growth. The following year, I enrolled at the Lycée International and the next eight years, from 7ème Français Spécial through Terminale, proved to be some of my most formidable years. I experienced a diversity of cultures and people that has yet to be rivaled. The Lycée International was an environment that nurtured and challenged my upbringing academically, socially, culturally, and politically.

Some of my most memorable experiences involved high-level competitive debates in Model United Nations, and exciting musical performances, particularly my last year with Muzicalis, a Fête de la Musique school event that I helped organize and also played in with a group of my friends. It was only upon moving back to the United States and listening to other students’ high school experiences, that I realized to what degree this kind of schooling is unparalleled and unique.

Above left: Brian in 1994; during his lycée years with Cyril St. Girons (US) and Juliette Jalenques (GB); and with girlfriend Jieun in NYC today.

Since then, I have moved back to the United States for college and architecture graduate school, and I am currently an architect working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, in New York City.

To this day, I cherish every day I had at the Lycée International and I hope that I can one day provide my children with such an exciting opportunity to learn and grow.

- Brian Ha ‘01

S Mary Friel and Jocelyne Black in 1984 and 1992; below with Sarah-Anne today.

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o current student at the Lycée was around back then. To me, the eighties are a distant echo of a decade when -GASP- typewriters were still in use, the Cold War was waging on, E.T. was a new hit, and the American Section only had three staff members. Between then and now, which is over a thirty-year time span, the Section office went through lots of changes. The best way to learn about that evolution is to glean information directly from former staff. Therefore, on a Friday afternoon I interviewed Jocelyne Black, who used to take care of the Section’s finances, and Mary Friel, who was, and still is, in charge of admissions. The distant sound of children playing and the promise of spring in the air lent itself perfectly to their sometimes nostalgic reminiscences.

The American Section office has undergone obvious physical changes: it has moved from what is now a part of the Proviseur’s apartment to the first floor of the main building, where the library used to be. It’s hard to imagine that Ms. Friel and Ms. Black had their desks facing each other in less than ten square meters! The physical growth of the office simply reflects the section’s growing number of students, which has more than doubled since the eighties, going from 305 in 1977 to over 700 today. “It was a lot smaller, so it was a different kind of an institution,” said Ms. Friel.

The Lycée’s size made it more relaxed than today. The Proviseur at the time, M. Scherer, always had his door open to students. “And he used to do something exceptional,” stated Ms. Friel, “he would ask any students whom he thought were in trouble to come and garden with him on a Saturday morning, and he would talk to them. He would then make them lunch. He sorted out a lot of problems that way.” The relaxed atmosphere was even physically visible: there were no gates around the school whatsoever, and people came and went freely. But a downside to the small size of the Section was the number of co-curricular activities, which, in the eighties, were three. There was MUN (Model United Nation), yearbook, and theater. This year, American Section high school students can choose

Back to the Eighties from about ten co-curriculars.

Another major change in the Section is the students’ nationalities. There used to be a greater portion of Americans in the student body in the eighties. Gradually, however, the number of Americans diminished.

Nowadays, there are nearly forty different nationalities represented in the American Section.

When I broach the topic of pre-computer technology, that is, typewriters, my two interviewees break into peals of laughter at remembering Ms. Black keeping accounting records by hand on ledgers with an adding machine to add up the columns of numbers. Ms. Friel remembers, not all that nostalgically, “doing the class list on the typewriter.

And they changed every 5 minutes. (…) Oh gosh.” Ms. Black then tells me of the perilous change from typewriters and adding machines to computers: “One of the Board members was the president of Wang computers, so he said, ‘I can get a computer for you at a good price.’ (…) It was fifty or sixty thousand francs, well over 7,000€. So we went to the other side of Paris to learn how to use computers.

And the computer was there on the desk when we came back, and Mary kept on doing things on the typewriter.

We didn’t dare touch the thing. And then one day the Treasurer of the American Section at the time came to me and said, ‘You have to use the computer. And if you make a mistake, it’s not bad, you can always correct it.’ So for a while I used to do both; I used to do accounting on the computer, and then I did it on the side like I always did.” Ms. Black did eventually abandon using her adding machine and dropped the ledgers.

During the interview, I sensed a real affection for the past. And I can just imagine in thirty years from now an American Section student writing about “the differences between then and now: comparing 2012 to 2042.” And the student will chuckle when someone will tell them that we actually used to use computers way back when.

Sarah Anne Aarup Première SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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LEGACY families And now, proof for all students who sometimes doubt that it is in fact possible to survive the Lycée: here at Compass we spoke to some former students who not only survived the system, but have chosen to send their own children to the school.

Key CB - Charlotte Borde ’87, mother of Josephine (1ère), Cedric (CE1) and Luke (GS) JB - Jacques Behr ’80, father of Simon ’10, Sam (Tle) and Nathan (4ème) Y & FB - Yasmin & Francesco Ballarin ’84, parents of Aliya (CM1) and Rohan (GS) SD - Sami Dahklia ’83, father of Julia (2nde) and Claire (4ème) MF - Marc Fournier ’90, father of Zachary (CE1) MG - Myriam Goldfrad ’84, mother of Benjamin (CM2) MM - Michele (Dick) Michel ’88, mother of Melody (CE2) SP - Aymeric Gaufroy ’88 & Sylvie Pena ’89, parents of Amalia (CE2) and Alvaro (CP) WP - Walter Putnam - teacher ’80 -’84, father of Sarah (2nde) Yasmin ’84 and Francesco Ballarin ’84.

Have things changed much since you were at school here?

SD: “No more mopeds on campus, no more cigarettes, Mario went upscale.”

JB: “The buildings have been enlarged, the Agora used to be half an épicerie arabe, half a ruin, and the Château was just the underground theater - the rest was a ruin too.”

MG: “It’s a larger school with perhaps less of a feeling of community in the wider school although it still exists within the Section. The facilities and security have been improved.

There was no enclosure around the school when I was there!”

CB: “It’s bigger (I remember a two level primary building), and we didn’t have the gates around the campus… I have fond memories of classes in the Château. I remember the best Halloween parties there too. And of course, Mario was just a little truck where the flag entrance is.”

FB: “I had my first primary classes in the Château, then in a former primary building which was demolished in 1992. Before the Agora was built, there was an épicerie in its place in the SHAPE village, where we loved to buy our candy. Facing the Lycée were fields with Brussels sprouts and potatoes!”

While physically some things have changed, other aspects haven’t: MM: “I find that like 30 years ago, the Section still has its high academic level, is fun, and is based on lots of volunteering (for parents).”

MF: “The education seems to be of even better quality than when I was here; the Section and the Lycée have always strived to offer the best education, and this goal has not changed. The uniqueness of the school remains the same.”

JB: “There were maybe less students and sections but the spirit and the atmosphere is the same... so it is always very 26

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emotional for me when I go there.”

SP: “The Lycée and the American Section have always been very demanding and that has not changed...yet as a child and later as a teenager, I never noticed the very demanding side to all this, because it was all natural to me…What has changed is the Section homework load. We never had that much homework at such an early age and yet the level was excellent already back then, and we were regularly tested to compare our level with top US schools, just to see where we stood.”

MG: “Still the same friendliness from the teaching staff.

Many activities are available - music and theater as well as sports, with much more sophisticated facilities!”

CB: “The Lycée is very similar in terms of what makes it great: the sections and the international spirit that makes it a unique and wonderful place. For these exchanges that we had as students, and that I see my children have with their friends from all different countries and with all different cultures, I am very thankful.”

What about the people?

Anyone you remember particularly well?

SP: “…back in my years, the spirit of the school was M. Scherer, the most amazing devoted human Proviseur of all times. He WAS the Lycée!”

WP: “Proviseur Scherer ruled over the Lycée with tireless and sometimes tyrannical care but he was a remarkable man who devoted his life to the place.”

A former teacher, Walter Putnam also remembers some students: “…my Terminale students put [a book] together of goofy quotes from the year and drawings by Francesco Ballarin ‘84. He sketched me into scenes related to the books we studied together. A very nice memory!”

Marc Fournier ’90

Jacques Behr ’80

Charlotte Borde ’87

And why did you enroll your children in the school?

MG: “the excellent reputation and the fond memories I have as a child in the primary section.”

Y& FB: “to expose [our children] to an international environment and educational system.”

CB: “The Lycée is the one place I thought of immediately for my children. As children who belong in both cultures, it’s the best place for them to develop their affinities with both countries. Knowing the school and how wonderful it is made it an easy decision.”

SD: “We wanted our daughters to enjoy a bilingual education on one hand and find themselves in a multi-cultural environment on the other.”

MF: “The LI offers a very unique education that I value tremendously.

The American Section was quite natural given that all of our family members are American.”

WP: “(My daughter) Sarah… wanted to learn French which is not taught in her American school. She wanted to spend her junior year abroad.”

JB: “I still believe that the Lycée has been really instrumental in the person I have become... so I wanted my boys to have the same education and experience with friends from all over the world…”

SP: “The Lycée (American Section for me, Italian Section for my husband), remains by far one of the most wonderful, enriching, and promising experiences in my life. It opened so many doors and professional opportunities for the two of us. Although we were already so international from the start (from our parents, and countries we lived in),it clearly gave us that ‘citizen of the world’ feeling that never leaves you.”

MM: “As I really enjoyed my Section teachers when I was young, for their high expectations of me but also for their true belief in my abilities, I thought the US Section at the Lycée would be the right place for my daughter too. And so far, so good! Not only does she get an “American cultural experience” but she gets the fun that goes with it.”

-Compiled by Tiffany Snel-Wark

Pen and ink illustrations drawn by Francesco Ballarin as a tribute to his teacher, Walter Putnam, in 1984.

Walter Putnam ’80-84

Sami Dahklia ’83

Michele Michel ’88

Sylvie Pena ’89 SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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My American Section history?

So really, you mean the story of my life?

I have been a student at the Lycée International my entire school career, since age 4. That means that I have been in the American Section at the Lycée for 13 years and have one more year to go. Though I am not the only student in my class who can make this claim, I may be a bit rarer than others in that I have two American parents. On the other hand, I am not the only person in my family who can claim to have gone to the Lycée International from Pre-K to Twelfth grade: my sisters, Katy and Whitney, blazed the trail for me.

While I still have a bit of climbing to do until I reach the summit of Terminale, it’s sometimes good to look back and see how much ground has already been covered.

My earliest memories at the Lycée, naturally, were the maternelle years. (According to my Dad, Bill Clinton was President at the time; it was that long ago.) In particular, I remember being in the maternelle classroom singing the “Hokey Pokey” and a song about waking up in the middle of the night and brushing your teeth. I recall playing soccer with the boys at recess, learning the alphabet – no, “elemenopy” is not a letter – and reading books on the small benches the classroom provides; I recently revisited the room and it perplexes me how we were ever tiny enough to fit onto those benches. Over the years, I was also in the school plays, with my debut as a narrator in King Lion and the Beetle, and then moved on to portray a soldier, a queen, a cool kid, and a Pilgrim (I wonder if I can put that on my résumé?).

It was clear from early on that my main role in the American Section would be to get good grades, as I considered it the best section by far (actually still do!) with the brightest students. There are so many moments during my first five years in the American Section that particularly stand out in my mind, which include watching my classmates’ book reports and taking part in “Project Weeks.” But the most memorable episode was the “Continent Capers” project. We were put into groups and asked to present an entire continent to the class, so with about four other students I researched the culture, climate, and customs of Australia. It was a challenging project that required a lot of work, but we had a fantastic time coming into class wearing masks and flippers, pretending we had just come from the Great Barrier Reef.

For Middle School, I left the Lycée campus for Marcel Roby, again following in the wake of my sisters. It was a very different setting, and I was suddenly in class with people who only spoke French and weren’t part of the international program. The last time that had been the case I had been in my first year of schooling, going half of the week to the Lycée for the American classes and to a school in Fourqueux the rest of the time. I barely spoke French, since it was my second language, and I remember feeling slightly exasperated in the French class when my teacher and classmates didn’t understand what I was saying: I was making perfect sense in English, after all! Needless to say, the American Section was my refuge and favorite part of the week, and remains so to this day. The encouragement, support, freedom of expression, and drive to excel the Section imbues in its students creates an inimitable atmosphere that everyone who is or has been a part of it deeply appreciates.

At this point, while I still have another year to go, what has being a part of the American Section at the Lycée 28

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My American Section History Justine at MUN in The Hague, 2012; with sisters Kate and Whitney; and with teacher Becy Haugen.

International meant to me?

Well naturally, it has given me the opportunity to be bilingual, giving my life a special aspect; I don’t feel as if I’m completely a native of France or of the United States, but rather, as the writer Albert Camus stated, “Ma patrie c’est ma langue” – roughly, “My homeland is my dialect.” The section has been my own little “America,” a completely different world from the French school system.

Being in the Section has meant that I have friends from all over the world, thanks to the students I’ve met who have come and gone, and also as a result of the trips the Section offers. Last year, I had the chance to take an incredible community service trip to India, where we worked with children and with NGOs that specialize in micro-finance.

It was in India that I learned that a cow sitting in the middle of the road has the right of way.

I have twice made equally inspiring trips to the Model United Nations conference at The Hague, raising my awareness about worldwide issues that necessitate the tolerance and understanding of people from totally different backgrounds so that we are able to pass a resolution. I feel as if I have really obtained a sense of global citizenship, which is a feature the Section strives to bestow upon all of its students.

My parents like to say that my sisters and I ended up at the Lycée International because they ran out of bedrooms in their apartment in Neuilly once I came along. But I’m pretty sure that my Mom (originally from Brooklyn) checked out all the schools in Paris before agreeing to move to the suburbs. And I am pretty sure that the reason I grew up in Fourqueux was the incredible education that my sisters got, and that I continue to receive, from the American Section of the Lycée International.

Justine Obr - Première

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BARBARA MOROSS Primary School Principal

The first time I set eyes on the Lycée International... ... I was not sure that I was in the right place. We lived in Paris at the time but needed to vacate our apartment. Our daughter was going into Grade 1, and we had been disappointed with her Kindergarten experience in a Parisian bilingual school. When I heard about the Lycée International with its sections based on culture – and not only language – it sounded too good to be true! So, that is how my daughter, Melissa, and I found ourselves in the car one March day 30 years ago on what seemed at the time to be an endless ride to Saint Germain-en-Laye.

When we reached the school, there were no apparent signs that it was a school: no gate around the campus, no flags, no signage - just a castle at one end of a park with some buildings scattered as you went down the hill. Driving was allowed inside “the park” at that time, so it was really hard to distinguish a campus. The American Section Office was in the building that now houses Lycée employees – the building facing the faculty parking lot. Melissa had an appointment to be interviewed by a teacher. At that time children were screened by interview before being tested.

Melissa passed the test, was accepted as an externé, and we made the big move to the suburbs. I was thrilled that she was going to finally have an American school experience.

That first year I was a homeroom parent and attended the meetings with my toddler son Jeremy crawling around me. Early in my stint as homeroom parent, the teacher asked me to do a special favor for her. She had a big box of half-used plastic glue pots, and she wanted them consolidated into fewer pots. The caps were all glued to the pots making them impossible to open, but she did not want to throw them away. I was new at this and did not want to tell the teacher what I thought of the idea, so I graciously accepted to take on the glue project. And there I was one afternoon in my new suburban kitchen, steaming open every one of those glue pots, cleaning them, and pouring them together. When I brought them to the teacher, she was delighted. She later

became a dear friend and close colleague, and we laughed about those silly glue pots for years. But ever since then, I have always had a profound respect and a soft spot in my heart for parent volunteers.

I joined the faculty as a part-time teacher the year after Melissa started. It was 1983. Early on I realized that this place was amazing - challenging, exciting, and sometimes incomprehensible - but never boring. The Director at the time said, “You’ll see. The dust never settles around here.”

I can say all these years later that truer words were never spoken. And after watching my own children and others live the Lycée International experience and succeed, I’d add my own comment borrowed from the song “New York, New York”: “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!”

Working in this mini United Nations is extremely enriching, yet certainly not without its challenges. I became acutely aware of the fact that as a faculty member here, I was the face of American education, and I daresay, America. I can think of no event that illustrates this better than Noël International. Early in my career here, the Primary School Directrice, who was truly adored by all, announced that she would be retiring at the end of the year, and she wanted to create a special program – Noël International. She envisioned one show in which all sections and some French classes would participate. She brought in a theater specialist and obtained the right to use the Théâtre Alexandre Dumas in Saint Germain for the performance. This was a big deal!

During the first organizational meetings it became apparent that satisfying everyone’s idea of Christmas was going to be difficult. The Latin block (Portugal, Italy, and Spain) were insisting on a Nativity show, while the northern countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Holland) envisioned elves dancing around in the forest. As for the Americans and the British, we wanted something festive and non-religious. In the end, each Section did what it wanted on the theme of Christmas, and the thread that tied it all together was a group of children from a French class who took an imaginary trip on Christmas Eve to see “Noël” in other countries. The American Section’s offering was the “Cowboy Christmas Ball” complete with carols and square dancing. This experience truly epitomizes the way the Lycée works, and over the years, I have seen countless examples of this international problem solving.

Looking back over 30 years, I realize that the school and the Section have grown and changed a great deal, and so much has happened that it is impossible to describe it all here. However, despite all the changes there are several constants. One that has been a guiding principle for me is the same thing that excited me about the American Section when I first learned about it – it offers an American school experience to its students – not just English.

I will always be grateful to the Lycée International and the Section for creating this structure that has allowed me to pass on to my own three children, as well as so many others, what that means.

SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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Yves Lemaire 2001 - 2012

PHOTO MARJOLEIN MARTINOT

It may surprise you to learn that, more than anything else, the role of the Proviseur (the Director) of the Lycée International most closely resembles a tightrope walker, performing a precarious and unrelenting balancing act.

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If the image of the suave and charming Yves Lemaire as a circus performer is jarring, consider his responsibilities: he must balance the needs and wishes of 13 international sections with those of the French staff, and at the same time prevent the larger sections from dominating the smaller, all the while conforming to what is expected by the French administration through dealing with both the Département des Yvelines and the Région Ile de France. Just writing that is exhausting and complicated.

It’s a job description that would defeat many a lesser person. For M. Lemaire, it’s all in a day’s work.

And it’s a measure of his success that we as parents don’t see the somewhat heavy hand of the French administration because he’s there, ensuring that everything runs smoothly without our being aware of the machinations beneath the surface. If you’ve ever had dealings with the French administration you’ll appreciate exactly what a feat that is.

The complications of the Proviseur’s role also underline one of the great differences between the LI and other lycées, and brings us to one of the most considerable challenges M. Lemaire has faced during his tenure.

In 2004, when the French state decided to decentralise the school administration, the LI was a state school. The change in the law meant that the responsibility for every lycée in France devolved to the regions – with only 10 exceptions: schools that were atypical in various ways, the LI of course being one of them. In the LI’s case, it was even more complicated because, apart from the international sections which make it unusual, it is also a school that begins in Petite Section and continues through to Terminale. The combination of these two factors made it unique in France and called for a unique solution: the school was divided into two separate entities with two budgets and – crucially – two administrative ‘masters.’ The collège, primaire and maternelle fall under the administration of the Départment while the lycée is under the administration of the Région. Luckily, as M. Lemaire points out, they kept one Proviseur to oversee the smooth running of the institution as a whole – an essential factor in managing such a complex entity.

Yves Lemaire’s career could have taken

a very different direction. After training as a classics teacher and teaching for 33 years, he was appointed to various académies and could have become an Inspecteur for an académie. Instead he chose the directorship of Lycée Poquelin in Saint-Germain before taking over the leadership of the LI in 2001. “It wasn’t about the prestige – although it’s obviously a prestigious job - but that’s not what really matters.

The work itself is what counts.” He adds that he has been offered other lycées over the years, including some very good French schools, but has always refused because he “knows how they work.” What makes the LI stand out and what he loves about it - is its complexity and its richness.

“Everyone works very hard – there is a virtuous rather than a vicious circle. The pupils are not in revolt against the staff, we have no problems with discipline. There are very strong links between the children and the teachers. There is a strong spirit of community, and tremendous respect for others.”

He was appointed Proviseur on September 1, 2001 and was at the Ministry on September 11th when the first airplane hit the Towers. Two days later at the LI they all observed two minutes of silence. M. Lemaire says it was the first of many remarkable moments he has experienced at the school: “There was complete silence. All the pupils were at the windows, utterly silent, motionless – the memory still moves me now.”

When asked about the most difficult moments he’s experienced, he answers without hesitation that the death of pupils is the hardest to bear. In comparison, nothing else matters.

Fortunately he has also experienced many moments of pure joy in his time at the LI, “moments when you feel that your community is strong and united.” He says events like the different shows staged at the school, the cocktail parties and other similar events are when he most feels this sense of community. Little, seemingly insignificant incidents reinforce his sense of joy and pride. “You can never catch a plane without seeing at least one LI family!”

He adds that his youngest son (he has three boys) who is in Première this year in the Spanish section was on a trip to Denmark and bumped into some pupils from the Danish section, an incident which fills him with pleasure.

He’s overseen a second major crisis during his tenure, when in 2006 the ministry decreed that there would no longer be feepaying Sections within schools, an event which threatened the very existence of the LI. We have M. Lemaire and the Presidents and Heads of the Sections at the time to thank for work they did, ultimately ending in a law allowing Sections to hire their own personnel. It has put the school in an unassailable position where its future existence is assured.

Despite these and many other achievements - the introduction of the Polish and Russian Sections for example he does have regrets. The renovation of the Château, which he’d had high hopes of achieving, has been stymied by the failure of the Région to invest the funds needed. As a result, lack of space remains a major issue on the LI campus.

He would like to see the school grow and to be able to add more Sections, but absolutely not at the cost of existing sections losing places.

But as he nears the end of his time with the LI, he has other things on his mind too. What he really wants people to understand, he says, is that he has really loved the LI and adored the pupils. More than anything that’s how he wants to be remembered. He wants us all to know that everything he did was with the best interests of the school at heart.

“When I started I felt strongly that I was the heir to something great and I’ve always wanted to leave it in even better shape.

I hope that in 10 years’ time it will be better still.”

What will he do when he leaves the LI for the last time on July 13, 2012? And why is he leaving when he’s still a few years from retirement age? “I could stay until I’m 65 but I wanted to be the one to decide when to leave.” But apart from moving house (at present he lives on the campus, as is usual in France), probably to live somewhere between Paris and Saint-Germain, he hasn’t decided yet what he’ll do. He’s had some proposals, but says that, for the moment, because the job of Proviseur is so all-consuming, he is incapable of imagining that he’s soon to leave. And so are we, M. le Proviseur, so are we. It is with heavy hearts that we will say goodbye to such an enlightened and wise director. We are very lucky to have had you.

-Tiffany Snel-Wark

Proviseurs of the Lycée International

René Tallard 1952 - 1965

Edgar Scherer 1965 - 1989

Jean-Pierre Maillard 1989 - 1997

Patrick Charpeil 1997 - 2001 SPRING / SUMMER 2012

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1952

“The school got its start under General Eisenhower, who hoped it would help SHAPE’s multi-national families to live and work together in harmony. Last January, when the first term began in a reconverted farmhouse, there were 18 boys and girls on the rolls.

Now there are 148 students – Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Canadian, Dutch, French, British and American – ranging from four year olds to teenagers. When the school opens next fall, Headmaster René Tallard, who is also a senior English teacher at the boys’ high school in St. Germain, expects the enrollment to jump to 350.”

“Ike’s demand that the SHAPE officers and men of all nationalities get along without friction is reflected in the kids’ behavior at school…. On the whole, says Headmaster Tallard, the Dutch and British pupils are the best behaved, the French and American the quickest at learning.”

Excerpted from “School for SHAPE” - Time Magazine, July 21, 1952