What you should know:
- French Honor Societies across FUHSD collaborated to host a booth at the Cupertino Night Market
- The booth featured activities like French trivia and games, aiming to promote French culture, classes, and fundraising efforts
- Organized by French teachers Denise Schang and Elizabeth Louie and Lynbrook FHS officers, students shared their passion for French through creative activities and engaged attendees in learning about the language and culture.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, French Honor Societies across FUHSD collaborated to host a booth at the Cupertino Night Market organized by the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce and De Anza College.
This is the first year that a Lynbrook club took part in the market. Denise Schang, French teacher and Lynbrook French Honor Society co-adviser, was the first person to find out about the event and share the possibility of a booth there with the FHS officers. She believed that the night market was a valuable means of collaborating with other schools and sharing French culture with market attendees.
“It was a great opportunity,” Schang said. “Every school in FUHSD participated and students from across the district were able to share their passion. Supporting the students in sharing their interests in French with the community was our main objective.”
This collaboration was an effort sparked by Schang, Lynbrook FHS officers and Elizabeth Louie, French teacher and Lynbrook French Honor Society co-adviser. Lynbrook FHS officers first reached out to the different French Honor societies within the district. Each school added their own ideas for games and activities. Most of the planning was done asynchronously through Zoom during the summer, but a week before the actual event, officers met in person to create the trivia sheets, trifolds and posters.
“We hope that our booth allows the community to take an interest in French culture,” senior and Monta Vista FHS co-president Rowan Canogiu said. “We also want to promote our French classes and fundraise.”
At the booth, attendees tossed rings onto a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower, tested their knowledge of French trivia, matched flags of French-speaking countries to their respective names and more. FHS volunteers handed out stickers and flyers for Le Petit Cours, an event where FHS members teach simple French classes to younger elementary students to spark their interests in pursuing French in the future.
“Our mission there was similar to our mission on campus: to promote our love for the French culture and language to the community, ” senior and Lynbrook FHS president Amine Ali Chaouche said. “We wanted to introduce people to some of the activities that we do at school like Mardi Gras and Le Petit Cours.”
Lasting well into the night, the market drew crowds with its lively and relaxed environment. It offered booths from other school clubs as well, such as Cupertino High School’s Japanese Honor Society. Food stalls sold a wide variety of dishes, from tanghulu to spicy chicken sandwiches, and small businesses sold jewelry and handmade crochet items. Additionally, cultural performances such as traditional Chinese opera singing were showcased on stage.
“I think it was really fun,” junior and night market attendee Amishi Arya said. “The FHS booth was really cute.”
