Antonia Bentel, Jordan DeCade, Nathaniel Duanshi,
Patrice Narasimhan, Maddy Prince, Jonathan Reisman, Electra Roll, Haya
Sheeline, Adele Sukhov, and Kristina Wirkowski at the Town Hall at Ste. Mère
Eglise, sister city to Locust Valley, with Deputy Mayor Mr. Antoine Simon.
Portledge students traveled to France in March as part
of the Portledge foreign exchange program . This year their itinerary included
a goodwill trip to the little town of Sainte-Mère-Église in Normandy to meet
with dignitaries and deliver a small token of friendship from Portledge School.
Sainte-Mère-Église, the sister city to Locust Valley,
was the first town liberated by the Allies during WWII and will celebrate the
70th Anniversary of D-Day this June. The commemoration, with world leaders in
attendance, will include a performance of a play about peace, “Et si on
bâtissait la paix ensemble…” (“And if we built peace together…”) by Laurence
Bohec, featuring French and German high school students alongside students from
Portledge School and Friends Academy. This unique, trilingual project
encompassing lessons in art, history, and community service, provides an
unprecedented opportunity for the two Locust Valley independent schools to
collaborate.
In anticipation of the D-Day Commemoration, the
Portledge student delegation delivered to each of the French officials a tote
bag especially designed for the occasion by Portledge tenth grader Antonia
Bentel, as well a "Memory Book” - a compilation from 4th -12th grade
students consisting of letters, poems, pictures, and messages in French
to the people of Sainte-Mère-Église.
The Portledge Lower School students had learned all
about the history that ties Locust Valley to Sainte-Mère-Église from French
teacher Marie-Therese Mathieu. They engaged in “thinking routines,” reflecting
on what it might be like to experience such a conflict in their home country.
The students’ sensitive and thoughtful work on this project illustrated how deeply
they understood and empathized with the topic. Likewise Portledge eighth
graders deepened their understanding about the war when Laurence Bohec, the
playwright/director of the planned Normandy Performance for Peace visited their
classrooms and spoke about D-Day history, the commitment to peace, and the
power of an individual to change the world by speaking from the heart through
art.
Kaye Weninger of Operation Democracy helped to arrange
the Portledge visit to Sainte-Mère-Église with the help of Michelle Coupey, an
American who lives there.
Mme Coupey spent the bulk of the day with students as
guide and arranged a delicious picnic lunch, paid for by Operation Democracy
and by the AVA (Amis des Veterans Americains) Friends of American Veterans. “We
are so grateful for the partnership with those organizations,” said Portledge
World Languages and Culture Department Head Dr. Elizabeth Atkins, “We
thank them for their generosity and hope to strengthen our connection with them
in years to come.”
Portledge students were invited to visit the Chateau
de Bernaville (which had been requisitioned by the German army during WWII and
used as the German army’s headquarters in the region), by its current owner,
Simon Rock de Besombes. He described to the enthralled students the history of
his property and the pivotal role it played in the early days of June, 1944.
General Rommel (center) at
Bernaville
The students next visited the iconic
church in Sainte-Mère-Église, with the parachute and a dummy representing
Private John Steele still symbolically hanging from its roof. Inside, they
admired the unique stained glass windows, which depict paratroopers where one
would usually see angels or saints. Having met Soeur Theresita of the “Maison
de la Paix” during her October 2013 visit to Locust Valley, several students
decided to participate in the project she began, which consists of a large
ledger book in which visitors record their ideas of what “peace” means (in
whatever language they choose). Our students used English, French and
Polish-- all languages they write fluently in-- to express their feelings.
the steeple of the church in Sainte-Mère-Église
Next, the group met with locals who
experienced D-Day first hand at the Musée Airborne in Sainte-Mère-Église.
Madame Andrée Auvray, who was a newlywed, nine months pregnant with her first
child when the Allies landed, recounted how she lived through those dramatic
days. Having formerly worked for the Red Cross, she was prepared to help
out when her country farm was transformed into a shelter/hospital. When the
explosions began, the Auvray’s offered a safe haven in the countryside for the
inhabitants of the village, and any who had been injured could be tended to by
the local doctor and by Mme Auvray herself.
The students’ personal guide at the
museum was one of its founders, Henri-Jean Renaud. The son of the wartime
mayor, Alexandre Renaud, and his wife Simone, the woman known affectionately as
the “Mother of Normandy” for her work in service to the memory of the American
soldiers who died liberating Sainte-Mère-Église, Henri-Jean was ten years old
on D-Day. The entire group was deeply moved and also charmed by Monsieur
Renaud, whom students described as “vibrant” and “extremely kind”. They
hung on his every word - in French - as he recalled his experiences of the war.
The students were amazed to see a pencil inscribed “Locust Valley
Sainte-Mère-Église” that he had preserved unused since it was sent to him
through Operation Democracy, over sixty-five years ago, during his schooldays
(when the only thing available in abundance were the shortages and the
rations).
The group on the
grounds of the Musée Airborne with Henri-Jean Renaud
At the Musée Airborne, surrounded by
planes, tanks and WWII artifacts, Portledge tenth graders Kristina Wirkowski
and Antonia Bentel performed the French (La Marseillaise) and American (Star
Spangled Banner) national anthems on the violin. Given those in attendance who
remember the war it was a poignant tribute to the friendship between the two
nations and a proud moment for Portledge.
Before leaving the museum, Monsieur
Renaud presented the group with a gift that all members of the Portledge
community will treasure. It is a piece of a parachute recovered from a
field near Sainte-Mère-Église on June 6th, 1944 in the early hours of the
morning. It will hang in Gilmour Library for all to see and admire.
The gift Henri-Jean
Renaud made to the students of Portledge.
The final stop of the day was the
visit to the Town Hall of Sainte-Mère-Église, where Deputy Mayor, Antoine
Simon, and his staff greeted the group. After a welcome speech by Mr.
Simon and the presentation of the Memory Book and the tote bags by Dr. Atkins, everyone
enjoyed refreshments in the official conference room. A wonderful first
contact was made between members of the Portledge community of the people of
Sainte-Mère-Église, and there will hopefully be many more to follow.
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