A senior-year student from the Lycée Marc Bloch in Bischheim, Alsace, Mr. Gabin Saulnier –who just passed his baccalaureate – has left for North-Carolina. Gabin participates in a four-week, State Department funded program called the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Summer Institute (BFTF).
The BFTF, a program by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, began in 2006 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin. He was a statesman and a diplomat and one of his main goals was to bring better understanding between Americans and Europeans. Benjamin Franklin used the media and diplomacy – by sharing information – to foster this understanding.
The aim of the program is to unite fifty European and ten American high school students (aged 16 to 18). Institute activities will include discussions on global issues, leadership and media training, community service and educational travel among others. The participants will stay on university campus and in host families. The aim is to deepen the participants’ experience of U.S. society during their exchange.
Mr. Gabin Saulnier and Ms. Chloé Daveux from Mayenne have been selected to represent France this year.
