Upper School French Students Participate in Manie Musicale

For the fourth year, Andréanne Annis’ French classes took part in Manie Musicale, a French song competition in the format of March Madness. Like the NCAA basketball tournament, students filled out a bracket to vote on which song and artist they think would advance to the next round. Then, on set days, they voted with thousands of other students around the world in a battle between two songs from the francophone world. Annis stated, “Our Falcons look forward to the reveals and feel connected to an international community. Through this experience, students discover trending songs and the meaning of their lyrics. It exposes the learners to the diversity of perspectives celebrated in the French speaking world.”

This year, some of the featured artists interacted with participants on social media and livestreams. FWCD had the opportunity to participate in a Zoom with LeFloFranco before the end of the competition. “The sweetest music to our Upper School French teacher’s ears is hearing comments like this one from LeFloFranco, the singer who ended up winning the competition, while zooming with her students just before the final match ‘Bonjour Andrew du Texas, quelle belle question’,” said Annis.

When the competition launched in 2017, two middle schools participated. Since then, the program has grown to include more than 4,000 schools from all 50 states and 23 different countries. Annis is one of 13 group experts who volunteers to put the bracket together, a passion she has had since the start of the competition.