What's up? By Alexane the editor of The duck!

On Friday  15^th November there was a power failure… Most of Riom went dark, but we carried on regardless (using our cell phone lights!).

Many pupils had to change classrooms last week. This is because the Headmaster has decided to change the windows of the Lycée. The classes will be much warmer this winter!

The girls' toilets are being renovated too.

There will soon be an exhibition of photos by pupils in première.

Thanksgiving is on Novembre 28^th!

The 9^th of December is Sainte-Marie day! We will keep you posted about the workshops, etc. being organized that day…

Thursday 28th November: THANKSGIVING at Sainte-Marie!

The ten pupils now in première section euro at Sainte-Marie who went to the US last summer so enjoyed their trip that they have decided to share their experience with you! They have chosen to share an important American tradition: Thanksgiving. You may be familiar with it, but the boys want to do things a bit differently…

1620: the Pilgrim Fathers came from Southhampton in England aboard the Mayflower and settled in what became Plymouth. But life in the colony was very difficult and many died. Squanto, an Indian, gave them food. In 1621, Bradford, one of the leaders, decreed three days of “thanksgiving” to celebrate the first good crop by the sharing of a meal. Since then, this tradition has been celebrated each fourth Thursday of November in the USA.

Thanksgiving will be celebrated on Thursday 28^th of November in Sainte-Marie, just like in the USA.

There will be a typical Thanksgiving meal of stuffed turkey with sweet potato mash, followed by a delicious donut (because we know you love ‘em!).

The afternoon will be fun: you will be able to discover three typical American sports: basketball, baseball and dodgeball. Baseball is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of nine players who take turns batting and fielding. Dodgeball is a game in which players on two teams try to throw large balls at each other while avoiding being hit themselves; Basketball  is a sport played by two teams and the objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop.

Maybe you are unfamiliar with these sports and their rules seem to be complex, but the guys are reassuring : “We want everybody to participate, our objective is for you to have a lot of fun and you share good moments with your friends. We have got everything ready : there will be two speakers to blast out comments and music, and two referees disguised as… oh but that’s a surprise!” The work has been long and painstaking, butthat’s the price to pay so that YOU can have a great time!

One last thing: there will be two star guests coming for lunch! We are sure you will spot them very easily… If you want to know more about their careers, you can come to listen to the live interview in the Mars room at 13:00! Article by Bérénice and Margaux!

Geek Fest!

"From the infinitely large to the infinitely small" was the theme of the Fête de la Science 2013, which took place from 9^th to 13^th October. It was an amazing journey from the confines of the universe to the tiny quarks…

In the morning we listened to a short conference on Medical Resonance Imaging and it was most interesting (it found a real echo in the audience…). Then we listened to a conference about crystals which was very complicated indeed (we could have used a crystal ball…). Then, once outside, we met two robotics engineers; they explained that they had made their robot especially for the army (very reassuring…).

We had lunch in the cafeteria where there was a multitude of students (will we really end up like them?!). Afterwards, the teachers gave us some free time to visit the campus. It has many buildings: Mathematics, Physics, Robotics, Chemistry, Science and Technology, etc. Take your pick for next year!

At the end of the day, we listened to short lectures on topics such as computer coding (puzzling), the tidal phenomenon (we were bowled over), and the effect of electromagnetic waves on pregnant women (monstrous…).

Then, and this was the most interesting event of the day, we took part in an experiment with some students on bacteria in the Biology labs; we saw bacteria crawling on our hands… it was awful!

Before leaving the Cézeaux campus, we attended a final conference, this time on bone prostheses (back-breakingly boring for some).

The day was exciting, all-in-all. Thanks to Mr. Hebrard, Mrs Romain and Mr Chaput, and all the staff of the University for this major event!