The vibrant colors of the francophone world came to Amador on Friday, March 27, for its first-ever French Honors Society convention. The convention was notable for being a collaboration with Foothill. It was also advertised to a wider audience, including middle school students.

The convention is going [to] bring a bunch of different aspects of French culture together. We’re gonna be focusing on countries, games, food, and art. We’re going to be combining and showing it off to middle schoolers and anyone else that’s interested in French culture,” said French Honors Society member Nithya Mukkamala (‘27). 

Local Outreach

One of the most important aspects of the event is its ability to recruit future members. The society aims to connect French students throughout the bay. Thus, the convention is important because it is the first exposure to the club for many people.

“Every year with the French program, we talk about doing an event, bringing the local Pleasanton community together to embrace French culture and collaborate. It’s really just made for people to get to know each other and develop [these relationships] over the years to really build a strong French community in Pleasanton and in the Bay,” said SHF president Lucie Apard (‘26). 

The event focused on creating a bridge between middle school French students and their future language careers in high school. Through cultural presentations and encouragement from the middle school French teachers, the society invited middle schoolers to join in on the event’s festivities. 

“[The convention] sounded really cool and cultural. It helps spread…culture and ideas, I guess. It shows different types of French culture and their traditions,” said Harvest Park Middle School student Shreeya Kanoongo.

Collaboration and Commitment 

For an event of such significance, extensive preparation was necessary. The society expected participating members to spend time outside collaborating with peers to produce a well-loved result. 

“We had to make sure to prepare for it in Access. We had to prepare outside of school. We got a lot of different information from different sources online, and we had to make trivia questions. We [even] had to come up with a dance,” said Mukkamala. 

However, the convention would not have been possible without the communication and coordination between the officer team. The team managed organizational tasks, such as interactive activities, that provided guests with opportunities to learn about French culture. 

“This year we have a great team of officers, super supportive club members, and everything like that, so we figured that we had the bandwidth to kind of throw this event and kind of get this to happen,” said Apard. 

Success on the Horizon

The society anticipates holding the convention again for many years to come. Their success draws inspiration from other prominent on-campus events, such as the Japanese Fall Festival. In any case, the society looks forward to inviting others to learn about French culture. 

“French itself is a beautiful language…and not a lot of people really recognize how special the culture is. It has a lot of different parts to it, and it’s something that really anyone can become interested in. Holding the convention shows off different aspects of the culture itself, and it’s able to represent the French Honor Society in the best way possible,” said Mukkamala. 

The French Honors Society has contributed to Pleasanton’s growth of French enthusiasts. Nonetheless, the society hopes to expand its presence in the wider Bay Area through continued events.

“I think it’s important to really get [the club] to grow…we’re already growing so much as a club. We’ve almost doubled in members over the years, so it’s important for us now to really expand from just Amador to the whole Bay Area and help develop French culture outside of it. I feel like we don’t really see that in Pleasanton, so it’s just the start,” said Apard.