Tasting a delicious cake made out of chocolate, vanilla and icing with a few other toppings was the main highlight on Dec. 4 when students got slices of Yule Log cakes baked for the “Bûche de Noël” competition organized by the French Club and the French teachers.

Valerie Aidan, who started teaching French at Lynbrook this year, made “Bûche de Noël” a mandatory assignment as an experience of French culture for students in French Level 1 and 2.

“Bûches de Noël is compulsory for Level 1 and 2 because it’s a part of French culture,” said Aidan. “For Level 2, I combined this assignment with the chapter on cooking, which was perfect. The students filmed a cooking show using the vocabulary and concepts they learned in the chapter while making the cake.”

Meanwhile, Madame Schang took a different approach; she gave extra credit to students who participated in the competition.

“The reason why I don’t make Bûches de Noël mandatory [and give extra credit instead] is because I know that students are super busy,” said Schang. “However, it is a fun and relaxing activity with friends where you can practice teamwork and cooperation.”

The Yule Log cakes—called “Bûches” in French—were baked by the students themselves in pairs of two. The categories for the competition included “Most Realistic,” “Most Creative,” “Most Beautiful,” “Most Christmas-Spirited” and “Best Tasting.” Students in Schang and Aidan’s French classes voted anonymously after scoping the Bûches during their French classes. The winner of the “Best Tasting” category, however, was decided by the officers of the French club.

With students eager to taste the Bûches and get plates for their friends, the event was more than just a competition for French-class students.

“Having the event reach out to everyone and witnessing the entire school enjoying it was really nice,” said Schang. “That’s what this school is about: diversity and everybody embracing it. I really like that.”

The experience at schools in France is the same, although the event is not as large-scale.

“I used to do it on a smaller scale with all my French classes when I taught at Fremont,” said French teacher Madame Aidan. “It wasn’t a competition, it was for the pure fun of cooking and sharing. We would cut them and distribute them to all teachers, and we would also have a nice feast with the students with each class.”

Such events are not often conducted in schools in France, since making Bûches is part of the French Christmas home tradition.

“In France, Bûches are available in any store which is why students don’t necessarily make them for school,” said Schang.

As for the student experience from the teachers’ perspective, the participating students seemed to enjoy the event.

“I think my students were really keen on [baking the Bûches],” said Aidan, “A lot of them had never done it. Some of them have never even cooked before. But the result was very warming. I couldn’t believe the level of talent; I had no idea! It’s neat for us to see what else our students can do.”

Although the participants of the “Bûches de Noël” event are French-class students, the entire school coming together to enjoy the delicious creations of students’ work is what really makes it special.

Gallery • 10 Photos

*Photos used with permission of Valerie Aidan