SuperCool!

French Warship on Last Trip Delivers Books to NYC Students
French Ambassador to Attend Gift Ceremony on Jeanne d’Arc Carrier

New York, March 10, 2010 — The French helicopter carrier Jeanne d’Arc is berthing in New York on March 31 with one last key mission to accomplish before being decommissioned after a 46-year career spanning nearly 1,800,000 nautical miles. It carries a valuable cargo of 2,000 French-language books destined for NYC students. The French books, including dictionaries and textbooks, but also novels and comic books, will be offered to the children participating in the French-English dual-language and French Heritage Language programs, as well as the French after-school classes organized by Education Française à New York (EFNY).


The Ambassador of France, Pierre Vimont, will attend the 2:30 pm book donation ceremony, which will feature a delegation of students from the Jordan L. Mott Middle School in the Bronx, one of the 6 schools that have launched a French-English dual language program. Following a performance by their school band, the students will receive the books on behalf of all of the schools involved. This delivery was initiated, coordinated and financed by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, with the books themselves having been donated by two French associations, Adiflor and Biblionef. Both organizations specialize in providing French language books, which are either new or in excellent condition, to children throughout the world.

At 3:00 pm, a press conference will be held that will include a presentation of the ship and its mission by its press officer. On this occasion, journalists will meet the commanding officers of the Jeanne d’Arc and the Courbet. Specific tours of the ship will be organized, during which the cadets can be interviewed.

The press is also invited to a cocktail reception that will be held on board at 6:30 pm.

In the following days, groups of New York city students learning French will have the opportunity to tour the Jeanne d’Arc.

On its final mission, the Jeanne d’Arc, which serves as a training ship for French navy midshipmen, is accompanied by the Courbet frigate (a La Fayette-type stealth frigate). A French training squadron with 103 young cadets, including twelve from nine foreign countries, is on board this training cruise which started off from France in December 2009 and will complete its tour in May 2010. Their journey includes port of calls in Africa, South America, the French Antilles, the United States of America and Canada.

PRESS EVENTS :

Date
Wednesday March 31st
Arrival of Ship
6:30am
Book Donation Ceremony with French Ambassador Pierre Vimont
2:30pm
Press Conference and Tours

3:00pm – 4:00pm
Cocktail reception on board
6:30 pm
Location
Manhattan Cruise Terminal
711 12th Avenue
(at W 59th Street)
Pier 90, Berth 4
New York, NY 10019
RSVP (please mention if you intend to film as specific authorizations may be required)
Marie-laure.charrier@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Press officer (Consulate general of France)
Amaury.laporte@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Press officer (Cultural services, Embassy of France)


ABOUT THE “JEANNE D’ARC”
www.consulfrance-newyork.org
The Jeanne d’Arc serves as a training ship for French navy midshipmen and is currently on its last six month tour (December 2, 2009 to May 30, 2010). These long term missions have been an integral part of French navy training since 1964, when the Jeanne d’Arc was first put into service. They give cadets an opportunity to put theory into practice and to hone their cultural and linguistic skills, which are critical in today’s increasingly multilateral missions. In its 46 years of service, the Jeanne d’Arc has sailed nearly 1,800,000 nautical miles (3,300,000 km), equivalent to 79 trips around the world or 9 trips to the moon, and trained 6,000 cadets. The 2009-2010 class is composed of 103 cadets, including 13 women and 12 foreigners.

The Jeanne d’Arc also participates in active duty operations during its tours, joining the French Navy on its many missions throughout the world (peacekeeping, the fight against maritime piracy and illegal trafficking, upholding fishing policy, international defense cooperation…). In the past five years, the Jeanne d’Arc took part in the peace reestablishment mission in Haiti (Operation Carbet, 2004), provided humanitarian assistance following the tsunami in South-East Asia (2005), rescued hostages off the coast of Somalia (Operation Thalatine, 2006) and patrolled the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean to combat piracy (Operation Atalanta, 2009).

On its final mission, the Jeanne d’Arc is accompanied by the Courbet frigate (a La Fayette-type stealth frigate) and both ships will berth in thirteen countries in all. They will arrive in New York City from Guadeloupe and will then head to Québec. At the end of her last campaign, the Jeanne d’Arc will go back to her home port of Brest, to be de-commissioned and an invitation to tender will be launched for her dismantling. The Amphibious Command Ships Mistral and Tonnerre, will take turns to train the French cadets.

The Jeanne d’Arc will remain moored in New York until Monday April 5th at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal (Pier 90, 711 12th Avenue). It will be open for visits by New York area children learning French and their parents as well as French nationals on Thursday April 1st and Friday April 2nd (schools with French-language programs will receive the necessary registration information).

The Amphibious command ship Tonnerre, accompanied by the destroyer George Leygues, will be the first ships to take over the training of the cadets and will open a new version of the training at sea of young officers. The training will be carried out in the third year. Maritime training represents an essential stage in the training of future officers. The shift to a new generation of ships, such as amphibious command ships, was made because of their technical and financial advantages.


ABOUT THE FRENCH-ENGLISH DUAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM
www.frenchculture.org

The French-English dual language program consists of immersion classes in French and English which are geared toward mixed classes of Francophones, Anglophones and bilingual students. The first three French-English dual language programs were launched in 2007, at the initiative of Education Française à New York (EFNY), a grassroots parents’ organization, and with the strong support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the New York City Department of Education. The French Cultural Services provide French teaching materials, teacher training and other logistical and financial support. In the current 2009-2010 school year, six New York City public schools have offered French-English dual language classes: PS125 (Harlem), PS58 (Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn), PS73 (Bronx), CIS22 (Bronx), PS84 (Upper West Side) and PS151 (Astoria, Queens). In all, more than 500 students in 20 classes benefit from this program, six times more than in 2007-2008, the program’s launch year.


ABOUT THE FRENCH HERITAGE LANGUAGE PROGRAM
www.facecouncil.org/fhlp

The French Heritage Language Program (FHLP) is designed to support and enrich the teaching of French to students of Francophone backgrounds, who are often recent immigrants. The program helps these underserved students to develop proficiency in French and maintain a connection to their culture and identity, while increasing their opportunities for success in their new environment. Launched in New York in 2005 by the French Embassy’s Educational Service and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with strong support from the Alfred & Jane Ross Foundation, the Heritage Program is run by the non-profit French American Cultural Exchange foundation (FACE). In New York, the Heritage Program is offered to 120 students in six locations: the Brooklyn International High School, the Bronx International High School, the International High School at Prospect Heights (Brooklyn), the International High School at Lafayette (Brooklyn), the International Community High School (Bronx) and PS125 (Harlem). It has also expanded to Miami, Florida, in 2010, to meet the needs of the growing Haitian diaspora following the January earthquake.

Press Contacts
Marie-Laure Charrier marie-laure.charrier@diplomatie.gouv.fr (212) 606 3625
Press officer (Consulate General of France)
Amaury Laporte amaury.laporte@diplomatie.gouv.fr (212) 439 1417
Press officer (Cultural services, Embassy of France)

____________________________________________
Amaury Laporte
Press Attaché
Cultural Services - Embassy of France
972 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10075
Tel : +1 (212) 439 1417 | Fax : +1 (212) 439 1401
Email : amaury.laporte@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Web: www.frenchculture.org
Become a fan on Facebook - Follow us on Twitter