Sarah Ellery Wins Google's Ancient Rome 3D Curriculum Competition

Last week Google announced the winners of competition, in which six teachers entering in three categories took home prizes and had their projects posted on Google's AR3D site. Very generous! MBA Latin teacher Sarah Ellery won for her project, "Walking with the Emperors." You can view her project as well as the other entries here.

The Sound of Ancient Greece

Very interesting article from the Times Online about ancient Greek music, as recreated by computer scientists.

Bonjour --

I just received this e-mail form the Tennessee coordinator of the National French Exam (the exam will be given at MBA on Tuesday morning, March 10th at 7:10!). These new prize possibiities sound pretty great!

Dear Teachers,

In support of the National French Contest, two prizes are being offered by the General Delegation of the Alliance Française in the U.S.: the Rotary Academic Prize and the Prix de l'Alliance Française.

The Alliance Française prize includes: Travel and accommodations for student and a parent for one week. Classes at Alliance Française for student. School of winning student will receive 125 French books/videos.

The Rotary prize includes: Travel and accommodations with a Rotary host family for two weeks. Classes at Alliance Française.

Recipients will be selected from nationally ranked students [the two prizes have slightly different criteria].

For more information, please consult the national website at: http://www.frenchteachers.org/concours/2009_AF_Rotary_Prizes.htm

IMPORTANT: to be eligible, students must submit an application form [separate form for each prize]. The form may be returned with the answer sheets from the school, or may be sent separately to me.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Will Thompson

Tennessean Article: Chinese at MBA

Thanks to Joan Li for sending this article about the future of our exchange program with China. Very interesting!

French summer possibilities

Bonjour! One of the most exciting aspects of language study is combinining what you are learning with travel. There are two wonderful ooportunities for French students now. First of all we recently had a visitor from The Experiment in International Living program -- they offer many possibilities for meaningful stays in French speaking (and other countries, too!) countries. Then, Nashville is part of the Sister Cities program with Caen, France. Caen is about 20 kilometers from the D-Day beaches and is an excellent and touching place for Americans to visit. Here are the details about this summer's exchange. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at oconneb@montgomerybell.com!

Sister Cities of Nashville is an active volunteer organization connecting Nashvillians with friends around the world through cultural exchange and community partnership. Sister Cities of Nashville has historically maintained high school exchanges with Nashville’s sister city in France, Caen.

We are currently organizing the student exchange for this summer. The exchanges typically bring French students to Nashville for two or three weeks during the regular school year and send Nashville-area students abroad for approximately the same length of time during the summer.

We are looking for students interested in going to Caen who have taken a minimum of two years of French. Students are generally 15 years old and up. The date for the exchange has not been confirmed yet, but we are looking at probably two weeks in June.

The program fee for participation in a student exchange is $250. This amount covers host family placement, pre-departure orientation, chaperone accompaniment, room and board, and roundtrip airport transfers to and from host family residence. The program fee does not include airfare, telephone charges, local public transportation, entertainment activities, and other incidental costs incurred by the student.

For more information about Sister Cities of Nashville, please go to our website at:http://www.scnashville.org/index.html

If you know someone who is interested in either participating in any upcoming student exchange in Caen, France, or hosting a student from Caen, please contact me at the number listed below or reply to this email. We look forward to hearing from you! The deadline is March 1st.

Spain Trip, Summer 2009

We are pleased to announce that, as part of our on-going effort to provide quality education, Montgomery Bell Academy is offering an educational tour to Spain including Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Cadiz and Seville! We depart on June 5th and return on June 17th, 2009. This program provides a wonderful opportunity for students to enjoy the delights of this culture.

We will be traveling with Euro-American Tours, who specialize in custom itineraries that are safe, rewarding and fun. They have gained a 30-year reputation for dependability so you can be assured of top rate accommodations, professional tour directors and personal service. Euro-American is a well-established company and, naturally, ample references are available.

We have an exciting trip planned through Spain. The itinerary includes fantastic sites and excursions that will bring you up close and personal with living history. This tour offers experiential lessons in history, religion, literature, music, art, and architecture. Please be aware that a trip of this nature involves a great deal of energy and enthusiasm on your part! For more information about this wonderful opportunity, please contact either Mr. Gray or Mr. Paolicchi.

Google Earth's Ancient Rome 3D

This is a must-see resource for Latin students and anyone who's interested in the ancient world. Click here to visit Ancient Rome 3D, where you can tour the city as it looked thousands of years ago. (You will need to download the newest version of Google Earth.) Endless possibilities!