French Week feeds hungry students

A flock of students triggered serious traffic problems at the top of the quad steps Nov. 13, as French Club hosted their first school-wide event: National French Week Nov. 10-14. The students were there to get crepes being served by the club.

“French Week went well considering that it was our first big event and it was a big venture for the first time,” said French Club member senior T.T. Tu. “I think this week put our club on the map.”

The week consisted of watching Chocolat, starring Johnny Depp, in room 408 during Wednesday tutorial and selling crepes for a dollar each on Thursday during seventh period. The club was also going to host an arts and crafts session during Friday tutorial where students could “design and customize their own French flags,” said Tu, but due to a lack of participation earlier in the week, the event was canceled.

“The movie didn’t go well because no one came to the movie,” said Tu. “Well, two people did: the photographer from newspaper and the guy she dragged inside. Maybe if we had publicized it a little earlier, more people would have come.”

Although there were posters around the school, a lack of communication also affected the participation. No information on the dates of the events were included, just which activities were on which days.

“I thought it was good they were trying to raise money for [French Club],” said sophomore Kyle Fukui. “They should advertise it more and make [the crepes] cheaper, though.”

Although the other activities fell through due to the lack of publicity, the crepe selling was a success for the club.

“Crepe selling went really well, almost better than anticipated because we ran out of food in the first 15 minutes,” said Tu. “We sold 155 crepes. [Students] really enjoyed it because a lot of them came back for seconds, thirds and fourths.”

The proceeds from the club’s crepes will help finance future French Club activities. Their other major event so far was participation in a French debate on Oct. 26 with other schools from the South Bay.

Due to the gradually decreasing number of French students, this club went unnoticed by many students until now. However, considering the minimal amount of French students on campus, the club is doing well with about twenty active members that meet Tuesdays at lunch in room 408.

“A lot of people found out about French Club through [National French Week],” said French Club member senior Megha Rahgavan. “It helped promote us throughout the school.”