Auburn High School invited to the Académie Française

 Auburn High School students, who were the first prize winners in the Foreign Secondary category of the  “Dis-moi dix mots” competition, were bestowed their prize in Paris at the Académie Française. The most  prestigious academy on French language, the Académie Française was created in 1635 by Cardinal  Richelieu. The students and their French teacher, Mrs Charbonneau, were greeted by the Académie  perpetual’s secretary Mrs Carrere d’Encausse, Mr Grosse and Mr Baldi from the French Ministries of  Education and Culture. They were invited to present their work around the 10 words selected for this year’s  competition with the other laureates.

"This was such a momentous occasion for Auburn High School!"

“The award ceremony was amazing and the award was presented to us by Mr Xavier Darcos who was Minister of Education in the previous government and current ambassador for Promotion of French language“, said Principal Maria Karvouni. The ceremony was followed with a visit of the Académie Française, a Seine river cruise and an official photo in front of the Institution.

In the evening, the group was invited for dinner at the Australian Embassy in Paris. Principal Maria Karvouni explains, “The purpose of the dinner was in honour of Senator Michael Ronaldson, Australian Minister of Veteran Affairs, and Australian veterans from WWII in Paris to commemorate Armistice Day. We were personally greeted and congratulated on receiving our prize by the Australian Ambassador Stephen Brady at his residence. The outstanding achievement of our school was mentioned in the speeches. The inter-generational aspect of the evening was moving and the Minister said to the students that they may be our future leaders. It was an emotional and wonderful evening that we all really enjoyed. This was such a momentous occasion for Auburn High School!”