Au revoir le Français. The French program at FHS is following the long-gone German program into the grave. According to Dr. Staub, the world language department is undergoing another makeover due to lack of student participation. With very few students taking advantage of the French program over the past few years, Dr. Staub said it was in the best interest of the curriculum to replace the language with Mandarin Chinese, a language that has been notably more useful when dealing with the global market. Because Freedom is such a small school, it is necessary for our curriculum to get the most “bang for our buck,” according to Dr. Staub. “Those decisions aren’t taken lightly,” said Mr. Bennett. Several French students put together a petition to save French, which received over four pages full of names, many of whom are not actually enrolled in French. “Viva la France,” exclaimed Denym Winkle, the sophomore and French II student who has been leading efforts to keep the French program. He says that he was always taught to fight for what he wanted and he plans on taking French at Freedom High school next year. Our only French teacher, Ms. Cloutier, was also hopeful French would continue to be offered. “Learning a foreign language, especially a romantic language, helps students to better understand and use their own language,” she said. After scheduling, though, the enrollment numbers were not enough to save the class, which has been barely hanging on, as the number of students enrolled in French IV has not broken double digits in quite a few years.