Press release
Athens Christian Preparatory Academy sophomore Jamie Boyd recently took first place in four different events at the Texas French Symposium. She also garnered an overall eighth place finish for the competition. Boyd, the only ACPA entry into the Symposium, outscored the entire teams of almost half the other schools present. It looks like she has a very bright future ahead of her in language. Who knows, even business French courses could be on the cards for her.
“I really liked competing in the French Symposium. I enjoyed competing in all the different events and meeting so many different people who also love French. So much of the fun was meeting the different students before the events and getting to know them,” Boyd said.
The competition, which is in its 51st year, was held at Klein Forest High School in Houston. It was attended by approximately 40 schools, public and private, from across the state. Boyd took first in state in: Grammar, Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension and Guided Speaking, an event where you must tell a story or give a presentation on a series of pictures you have never seen before with only two minutes of preparation time, with no books, dictionaries, or anything but your mind.
ACPA French Instructor Stephanie West who accompanied Boyd to the Symposium was overjoyed. “I was so proud of Jamie, but not surprised by her success. She has an amazing work ethic; and that, coupled with her being blessed with a prodigious intellect, all but assured an impressive showing. That being said, the competition was very, very stiff; so her results were especially astonishing,” West said.
Boyd dominated other third-year French students from across the state in nine separate events, and made it to the semifinals in all except one. Once in the semifinals, she made it through to the finals in all but one event. “Coming from a small school in Athens, I was very excited to go to a competition like the Symposium and compete against so many students from all over Texas. The Symposium was well organized, and everyone was very friendly. I loved how enthusiastic the other students were about learning French,” Boyd said.
Boyd also ranked in the top 10 in her level in the state in Poetry Recitation, Prose and Sight Reading. Boyd said, “I love the challenge of learning a different language. It’s so much fun when words that used to look and sound like jibberish to you start to make sense. I love being able to communicate with people who I otherwise wouldn’t be able to talk to or understand.”
Boyd plans to continue improving her linguistic skills. “I’m not sure yet how I want to use French in my future. I hope to learn other languages besides French, so already knowing French and understanding how a different language works will definitely help me with that,” Boyd said.
Sounds like she did a great job! Are you able to share the winners of the events and the schools they represent, with us? It sounds like a wonderful opportunity to use your skills and yet a great opportunity to learn from others. I am not familiar with the French Symposium, but this has peaked my interest and I am going to try to learn more about it. Jamie, you are to be commended and I for one am very proud of you!!