Joelle Dionne, 15, a junior at the Maine School of Science and Math (MSSM) in Limestone achieved a top score of 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 on the French Advanced Placement (AP) Test. She was enrolled in the French Immersion Program in the Madawaska School System and took the test after she completed 10th Grade.
Contributed photo
L. James Lavertu, newly elected president of l’Association Française de la Vallée St-Jean (formerly Club Français) presenting MSSM student Joelle Dionne a $1,000 check on October 18, 2010 as a reward for her high score on a recent AP French test. According to the organization, Dionne is the first student in the Valley to have achieved the five out of five score on the French AP test.
“I started speaking English at three and a half years old,” Dionne said, convinced that her first language (French), her parents (Joel Dionne and Céline Lavoie), her school and her community have all been huge assets to her success.
Dionne is now studying Spanish and once she’s mastered the language, she plans on exploring Eastern Asian languages. She believes that language enhances communications in local communities of the area and beyond.
“You learn about the culture of a people when you study a language,” Dionne said.
While MSSM is perceived as a purely science and math based school, all students are offered advanced linguistic opportunities in both Spanish and Chinese.
MSSM also encourages their students to partake in two-week January internships — often referred to as J-Term internships — and at the start of 2011, Dionne will intern under the mentorship of Wayne Smith in the St. John Valley doing a comparative study of various facets of French: Valley, Parisian, Quebecois, International, and North American Standard French, identifying similarities and differences.
Dionne is presently taking numerous advanced placement courses at the magnet school, participating in extracurricular activities such as Karate and instrumental ensemble. She’s also the co-leader of the MSSM Civil Rights Club, an area she considers very important considering all the bullying issues prevalent in the country right now. Dionne also participates on the school’s math team and is looking forward to competition with other schools.
