Awards Ceremony Cancelled

Greetings, colleagues,

It is with a heavy heart that we, the officers of AATF-Houston, have decided to cancel this year’s distribution des prix ceremony that was to be held tomorrow afternoon at the University of St. Thomas. We have decided to do so for the safety of all concerned, especially in light of the fact that similar academic UIL events have also been interrupted across Texas due to the influenza situation. Know that this is only a one-time occurrence, and that, in the years to come, we have every intention of continuing this grand and unique tradition of ours to which I was looking forward with great anticipation.

Teachers whose students were to be recognized should contact our chapter’s NFC director, Ann Clogan, to make arrangements to collect their certificates and prizes as soon as possible. Ann can be reached by e-mail at aclogan@strakejesuit.org. Please be so kind as to contact her before May 15 to collect your students’ materials. Teachers of students who placed highly can also expect to be contacted soon about the possibility of their participating in Destination France. You will hear more about this soon, in the weeks that follow, from our own Claude Boutin.

Join me in expressing thanks to Ann for all her work on this year’s contest and, of course, to Dr. Rolande Leguillon for having once again offered to host us for our ceremony in the excellent facilities of the University of St. Thomas.

I thank you all for your understanding, and I wish you all a productive end of the academic year.

Best,

Georges Detiveaux
President, AATF-Houston

Distribution des prix

Remember that AATF-Houston will hold its annual awards ceremony in celebration of the success of area students who participated in the National French Contest. This year's 'distribution des prix' will take place at the University of St. Thomas on Friday, May 1 in the Jerabeck Center, beginning promptly at 4:30pm. We hope to see you there!

La grippe porcine

It seems like every time there's a new virus out there, there's also a panic! To help your students be informed, and to calm their fears, why not give them the facts on swine flu IN FRENCH. It's a great way to review the imperative (what can you do to help prevent the flu), countries and other place names (and prepositions), etc. Here are some helpful links...

http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/materials.htm

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/influenza/pdf/lang/french_flu_prevention_fact_sheet.pdf

http://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/sujets/prob_sante/influenza/phpwcms_filestorage/efc57c9d395f12c7d4b12fc086f7c428.pdf

http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2009/04/27/une-epidemie-de-grippe-porcine-est-plus-inquietante-qu-une-epidemie-de-grippe-aviaire_1186192_3244.html#ens_id=1185166

http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/son/2009/04/27/grippe-porcine-au-mexique-on-est-encore-dans-le-flou-sur-le-nombre-de-victimes_1186228_3222.html#ens_id=1185166

http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/fr/index.html

http://www.sante-sports.gouv.fr/actualite-presse/presse-sante/communiques/epidemie-infections-respiratoires-severes-au-mexique.html