How Mayfield French introduced a worldwide competition into their classrooms

The basic concept of the program is a musical competition. Each week, an established French speaking artist (pop, rap, hip hop etc.) is set in a match against another musical artist (or artists, as the case may be). The votes of students and faculty advance the artists to the next stage. Students are asked to fill in brackets to predict the eventual winners—an “MTV” meets “March Madness” model. And in the end—after several rounds of voting —the big winner is announced!

How does Ms. Sevilla see this project aligning with Holy Child goals/mission? “The joy in learning!” she exclaims. When it comes to learning World Languages, there are always rote activities to take on. Vocabulary building, general quizzes, written exams. So Ms. Sevilla says she is always “looking for a way to connect to students” and avenues to make the material  “relevant” to them. Ms. Sevilla knows she has to meet students where they are, which is why she was so enthusiastic about incorporating the Manie Musicale program into her classrooms. “To students right now, their life is music. Their life is Instagram…and Tik Tok.” So instead of just engaging with fixed textbooks and workbooks, students are actually agents of change in their assignments—their votes determine the winner of the competition, after all. Their activities are playing out with actual artists in real time, and Ms. Sevilla adds, “These are real people they can follow on Instagram!” 

Stop by any French class this March, and you’ll notice the decorations on the walls, that appear to be products of multiple class projects: cut-outs celebrating Mardi Gras, paper locks representing those that hang on the bridges around Paris, empty glass pots of “Oui” yogurt—filled with red, white and blue beads. And whether it’s the freshmen in French 1 or the juniors and seniors in AP French, you will also notice they are watching the same music videos, and engaging in stimulating discussions about those videos —at all different levels of fluency. Frances Aguirre ‘25 appreciates the ingenuity of it all, “I think that Ms. Sevilla always has great ideas that vary, and we always do different fun things which I love. We either work in groups and do mini-conversations in front of the class, practice work, watching French videos, etc.”

These music videos in Manie Musicale are of the highest production value—created outside the program—but selected and curated for the competition partially for their educational and informational elements. They are entertaining and most of the tunes are downright catchy! Like pop songs in general, the majority of the selections are somewhat repetitive, which has its own linguistic value: easier to understand, easier to repeat. And Mackenzie Younker ‘25 and Kendall Lee ‘25 don’t just notice the linguistic applications. Mackenzie says it’s fun to know “what is trending for students our age in France.” And Kendall finds herself picking up on cultural cues as well. “The most interesting part of Manie Musicale is how similar popular songs are in France compared to the U.S. Seeing the cultural differences has been very interesting to watch,” she says. 

The reasons why students might choose to enroll in a French class these days (over Spanish or Mandarin) varies from person to person. Freshmen like Madeleine Bewick ‘25 had a familial connection. Madeleine explains, “I looked into French not only because I wanted to try something new but also because my grandparents were born and raised in Quebec…my mom is also fluent.” Mia Maalouf ‘22 and Jessica Maalouf ‘23 cite their Lebanese heritage as a motivating factor, and Mia explained that the ways her family could converse in this unfamiliar language intrigued her. “My parents use French as their secret language in front of my brother and me, which encouraged me to learn!” says Mia. Kristen Awakuni ‘25 had an entirely different draw to the language though, saying, “I had an interest in French films for years, and I enjoyed watching them since I was a child…I thought it would be nice if I learned to watch without subtitles.” Regardless of the reason, there is a lot of passion for this language at every grade level.

And distinctions regarding grade levels at this precise moment in time can be more pronounced than ever, since COVID-19 has been a sort of dividing line for students and for educators. When Ms. Sevilla taught 8th grade at Ramona Convent several years ago, she understood even then that it was a critical stage for academic and social development, and a place to learn “basic skills.” She remembers being asked by the administration to “help students learn to pack their backpack” because this was a life-lesson that might affect their high school transition and early academic success. Ms. Sevilla happily took on the project and used it for a vocabulary building exercise: crayon, stylo, carnet etc. But with the remote learning that was required during COVID-19, Ms. Sevilla understood that the current freshmen and sophomores didn’t get much of that tactile and social experience of the classroom, and although she’s seen so much strength in her Mayfield students, there is still a slight learning curve there. The sophomores and juniors were also impacted by the pandemic disruptions of course, but had more of a baseline. Perhaps this was another reason to include Manie Musicale in every grade—everyone who was studying French would have something in common—a point of connection between all ages, and something they could discuss between each other. “That’s community,” says Ms. Sevilla, “Nobody is left out!’

 

The seniors in this class have already set their horizons past the walls of Mayfield, as Avalon Dela Rosa ‘22, Kelly Yatsko ‘22 and Mercedes Javelera ‘22 all plan to minor in French in their respective colleges/universities next year. Avalon explains, “I fell in love with the language and French quickly became my favorite class” saying she anticipates being able to use it “on my study-abroad somewhere in France.” And even though seniors are imagining the next steps they will be taking after graduation, they still seem largely invested in the “Manie Musicale” competition as well. “It's sparked a lot of interesting discussion!” says Kelly.

It’s clear that students who have stayed in French all four years have forged a special connection. “Something interesting about this class is the tight knit bond we have created. This has been the only class in which we have had the same teacher and students (mostly) for all four years. We have really grown together and created a unique bond,” says Grace Gannon ‘22. “I appreciate how Madame Sevilla is always prepared and has mastered the balance between hard work and fun projects throughout the school year.”