Future SHS Sailors Visit Quebec in Large Numbers

Gates students will say “Bonjour” as they cross over into one of the oldest cities in North America. On May 5th, over 70 eighth grade students will embark on a three-day trip to the capital city of one of Canada’s most populated regions, Quebec City. Keri Beckwith, Gates French teacher and the primary organizer of the trip, hopes this experience will help students express their love for language and broaden their French speaking capabilities.

“I knew some students specifically chose French because they knew they had the opportunity to use it abroad. I didn’t want these 8th grade students, who have had that expectation and hope to use language in an authentic way, to end up not having that experience,” Beckwith said.

This will be Beckwith’s first class trip to Quebec, and with the recent large influx of student applicants, Beckwith said she is enjoying the love and energy that comes from her students. According to Beckwith, Gates has been participating in the trip to Quebec for over 12 years and hopes to “keep up with the tradition.”

“The trip has never been more than one bus. We now have two buses. Last year we had fewer than 50 students on the trip. We were originally capping at 50 students but had to turn so many students away,” Beckwith said. “There are 82 French students in the 8th grade at Gates, and we had so much interest. We received more applications than what we anticipated and we made an effort to organize a second bus–to open it up to everyone instead of ‘first come first served.’”

During her presentation at the Quebec Information Meeting on April 3rd, Beckwith emphasized that although it will be challenging to travel with two buses, she couldn’t exclude deserving students from an opportunity so life changing. She said, “It’s important for all of us to be connected with the world around us. In these beautiful seaside towns, we have some many things available to us, in Scituate, that can tempt us to stay here in the same place. It’s important for the students to learn that there are other beautiful things out there.”