TWO Lower Sixth pupils from Friends' School have just returned
from a dream work experience week at Eurodisney in Paris.
Arianna Marano and Shannon Rainey spent a week with the
creative design team at the theme park thanks to the enterprise
of their French language teacher, Mr Stephen Moore.
The girls didn't need to be asked twice and once in the land
of the Magic Kingdom were pleased to be invited to play an
active role in the work of the team. They were also able to take
in some of the atmosphere around the theme park when time
permitted. It wasn't quite all the fun of the fair though and
an early rise was required to get from the hotel to the
Imagineering team's office for 8am each day. Arianna said:
"Everyone at Eurodisney was brilliant and let us get involved in
all that was going on right from the start". She was
particularly impressed with the attention to detail of the
management and backroom staff at the park: "We were allowed to
sit in on lots of meetings and couldn't believe how something
like the colour of a litter bin could be the cause of so much
discussion." Shannon was also delighted to have been given
such a wonderful opportunity to practice her language skills:
"It took a couple of days to get used to being in a French
working environment, and working with so many different
professionals the vocabulary was really challenging...but the
best bit was getting to test the rides before the park opened
some mornings!" Mr Moore explained how the ultimate in work
experience opportunities arose: "My brother Philip is a pastor
in Lagny sur Marne which is not far from Eurodisney. "One of the
members of his church works in the theme park and was able to
put me in touch with the manager of the department who sorted
out the placement." The trip was a success and may well be
repeated in future years. "We don't know, but we hope so. The
girls made a good impression," Mr Moore added. The hosts were
full of praise for the Friends' girls and the school received
several emails from France which is quite positive for the
fledgling relationship: "Shannon and Arianna were delightful,
professional and eager to listen and learn," said the
Imagineering team manager, Cathleen Nunez. "It was a pleasure to
host them." Ulster Star
08/02/2008
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