AROOSTOOK COUNTY, Maine — For many years now, there's been a push by French-speaking Mainers in the St. John Valley in Aroostook County to teach French to students.
Mostly due to a lack of resources and funds, the Maine Department of Education has not prioritized this effort.
The nonprofit Le Club Français is offering lessons to both young and old to keep the language alive in the region by teaching anyone interested in conversational Acadian French and the Acadian culture as a whole.
Last year, for a small fee, the nonprofit started a new preschool called Ma Petite Ecole. The organization also began offering after-school classes in Frenchville, and even 10-week sessions for adults.
Sharon Boucher is the director of French programming for Le Club Français. She said this push comes after the language was frowned upon many decades ago as a way to "Americanize" French speakers in northern Maine—the reason why they didn't pass the language down to their kids—and now those kids who don't speak French have no way to teach it to their children.
Boucher and other teachers are doing what they can to get students excited about learning Acadian French. One way is by offering scholarships to students and parents who are interested in learning but can't afford the lessons.
"Another bit we added to our program is to focus on having students interested in teaching French in the valley! We started last year giving scholarships to high school seniors who excelled in their French classes, and in addition, this year we are adding scholarships for college students majoring and minoring in French," Boucher said.
Boucher went on to explain that Ma Petit Ecole is a preschool for 3-5 year olds. She said the objective of opening the preschool was to get young students interested in the language from an early age. Then, the after-school program they offer is for students from Kindergarten all the way up to fourth grade. Parents of interested students who can't afford these classes can apply for scholarship funds, Boucher said. The prices for the student yearly sessions range from $200 to $300.
"I'm finding a greater interest, when I was speaking with the parents, trying to enroll the kids in the class, a lot of them. ... The father was French-speaking, the mother was English-speaking, and the parents wanted to continue the French in the family, which is very, very encouraging for us here, and we are so close to Edmunston and there is so much French there that it only makes sense that their kids learn the duo-language, and we all know that duo-languages really helps a child develop and they really do much better in school if they have two languages or more," Boucher said.
Boucher added it's encouraging to see an interest from adults in trying to learn the language, that way students can practice what they learn in the school at home with the parents.
"If we take pride in our language again and we have the families come together, speak together, even just friends gathering somewhere and speaking our French, we are really going to help bring back our language and our culture, and we have a wonderful rich culture here with the Acadian culture, and that's going away because most of the people who were involved with the Acadian culture are older people, and I hate to say it but I'm one of those older people, we are dying out," Boucher expressed. "So basically, we need to bring in the young people and get things going again and I think right now there is a real hunger for it, and I think right now is the time to strike."
Sharon Chasse works as the curriculum coordinator for the Valley Unified, MSAD 27, and MSAD 33.
"I think it's multi-layered, I think that one of the concerns has always been monetary. In terms of finances and budgeting, I don't think it has been on the list, high priority list unfortunately, another thing is the shortage in teaching staff especially those with specialty areas. I'm not really sure how many teachers there are that are qualified at the state level to be French teachers at the lower level," Chasse said. "So I think that those are some of the variables that come into play. I think also because of budget issues, unfortunately, certain programs get cut because they are not considered part of the core curriculum, so I do think that has impacted the ability to offer those specials which definitely are part of the curriculum, but sometimes can get pushed to the wayside."
Chasse said right now, schools in the St. John Valley do have a few French teachers who teach classes in middle school and high school, but those are mostly elective classes, not mandatory.
"It has to be made a priority, I think community members have to see a need for it, they need to realize that there might need to be some monetary contributions toward that to make them happen, and it also needs to be consistently delivered, so if you are going to have French being offered to students in the early elementary and upper elementary, leading into middle school. ... It has to be a consistent curriculum, it needs to be well aligned, and it needs to be offered at a frequent basis," Chasse explained. "And I also think that there needs to be decisions as to what kind of French it is that is going to be offered. Is it going to be the Persian French, the Acadian Valley French, are we going to have a focus more on historical and cultural events, are we going to spend a lot of time talking about the grammar? So it has to be well thought out and there has to be an alignment with the curriculum and it has to be put into place with intent."
Chasse added this effort of bringing more French into schools is valued and the interest is there. She said it's not neglect, but the logistics and how to make it happen are not in place yet.
If you are interested in learning more about these language sessions for both adults and students, you can contact Sharon Boucher at shounb349@gmail.com.