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Boardman French student gets surprise visitor
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .France native Julien Maigret (left) visited Boardman High School's Jessica Joerndt Nov. 23 during her French class. Joerndt, who interviewed Maigret for a class project, was unaware of Maigret's visit to America.
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Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem .Julien Maigret talked to French class members of Boardman High School Nov. 23 about his life in Paris, France. This was his first time visiting an American high school, which was a dream of his since he was 15 years old.
On the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, Boardman High School student Jessica Joerndt thought Nov. 23 would be an ordinary day.
She was mistaken.
Surprise guest Julien Maigret, whom she met through a class assignment, greeted the freshman French student and her classmates. Maigret lives in France and made the trip to Boardman while in the States to visit his girlfriend, who lives in New York.
In was a pleasant surprise for Joesndt, who had interviewed him through email and on the telephone for a class project earlier this year. She got connected with Maigret through a family acquaintence.
“I was excited to talk to him because I am learning French and I’ve always wanted to talk to someone from France,” Joerndt said.
During his visit, he spoke to the class, in French, about his native country and answered questions from the students.
While it was a memorable experience for Joerndt, the meeting was also a unique one for Maigret. Never having been in an American school, he had a different image in mind. As a teenager, he was a fan of the American sitcom “Saved By The Bell” and assumed that all high schools were like the show’s Bayside High School.
“You know, Zack Morris, Kelly, Lisa and football,” Maigret said, while laughing.
It has been more than 15 years since the sitcom went off the air, but the persona of the American high school stayed embedded in his mind. Maigret said he appreciates the school allowing him to visit and accomplish a goal he set for himself as a teenager.
He returned to France Nov. 28.
“I have always wanted to visit a nice school and I thought now would be the time,” Maigret said. “I thank the school for letting me come.”