One of the groups honored at Wednesday’s Awards Night was the Mount Michael French class. The students taking French levels one through four received awards for their achievements in three separate events, including a French overnighter, a French Convention, as well as the National French Exam.
      The French overnighter, formally called l'Auberge de jeunesse and held in Aurora, NE, was made up of several games, all of which tested the French-speaking skills of the students who chose to attend the event. All of the students were arranged into groups with students from other schools. These groups then competed against each other in order to win prizes. Some of the main activities at this event were the making of a French music video, a flag making competition, as well as a puzzle competition. At the end of the Auberge, the places one through three were announced. Sophomore Sean Cox’s group won first, largely due to their music video, in which Cox played the lead role.
      Shortly after this activity, the French students took a trip to Omaha North High, to compete in the French Convention. This competition consisted of several levels of French Knowledge Bowl, a cooking competition, and several art competitions. For the French underdogs, the convention also included a volleyball tournament, in which Mount Michael took 1st place.
      In addition to an excellent showing in volleyball, the Knights also took first place in knowledge bowl for level three as well as level five.The level five victory was particularly impressive since Mount Michael only offers four levels of French.
      After the French Convention, the French Knights thought that they were finished, but French teacher Fr. Stephen Plank had one more thing on the agenda. The National French Exam scores were in.  Junior Brent Lockee scored the highest on the exam for Mount Michael, receiving first place in the state, and fourth in the national rankings. Other high scores included those of freshman Chris Antonelli (3rd place in state), sophomore Jeff Kucirek (6th in state, and nationally), junior Matt O’Gara (5th in state, 9th nationally), and Senior Andy Huss (3rd in state, 9th nationally).
      “The National French Exam is great,” said Kucirek. “It brings out our inner competitiveness.”
Many of the French students at Mount Michael feel this way about not only the exam, but also the Auberge and the convention. These events gave Mount Michael students a chance to see just how well they match up against other area schools.
                                                                                                                      -Article Zach Pluhacek