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St. Louis, April 19, 2019: For two weeks, the sound of French being spoken spilled out of the classroom and into the halls of Kirkwood High School (KHS). Twenty students from Notre Dame de Bellegarde High School (NDB) in Lyon, France descended upon KHS for a two-week immersion program. FRAME (FRench-AMerican Exchange) is a program championed by the St. Louis-Lyon Sister Cities Committee and administrated by KHS teachers Anna Kalfus and Cindy Koehler and NDB teachers Alison Mouton and Nora Sardi. During their time in St. Louis, the French students toured the city, attended classes, went to Prom and lived the life of a typical American student. 

“This exchange program is unique, in that it's the only truly reciprocal program with our sister city,” said Kalfus. The KHS students will travel to Lyon, France May 29th to experience being a teen à la française.

The work of the St. Louis-Lyon Sister Cities committee is to forge and foster relationships between St. Louis and Lyon, France. “After decades of not having a French sister cities high school exchange program, our committee was thrilled when Kirkwood High School came to us to help identify a school in Lyon interested in starting an exchange program,” said Susan Powers, president of St. Louis-Lyon Sister Cities, Inc. “We feel that programs such as FRAME promote good citizenship at home and abroad. It is beautifully matched to our mission.”

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St. Louis-Lyon Sister Cities, Inc. is devoted to building relationships between the citizenry of St. Louis and Lyon. They are one of 16 World Trade Center St. Louis' sister cities programs that enhance the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership's international agenda. In addition to the municipal ties between St. Louis and Lyon, the committee partners with commercial, cultural and educational organizations that foster our region's French connections.

Established in 1896, Kirkwood High School offered the first public four-year high school program in St. Louis County and continues to provide new innovations that will propel its students toward successful futures.

Notre Dame de Bellegarde High School is located just outside Lyon, France in Neuville-sur-Saône.