This Junior Association was created by my friends and I three years ago. It was the only association like this in Aurillac. The aim of the GEC is to “open up” our lycée to the world. We have developed a lot of activities to achieve this aim.
We have regular meetings on Fridays where we get to talk to each other and to the foreign pupils.
We celebrate Europe Day every 9th May. It is a good way to promote the European Union.
We tried to set up a twinning with a secondary school in England last year. It did not work out, but at least it helped us improve our communication skills!
I took part in the 28th French national session of the European Youth Parliament. I was a member of the committee on regional development. We had to propose ideas to encourage youth involvement in the cultural capitals of Europe initiative. The EYP was an amazing experience! We very quickly had to become an active member of a group of people we did not even know. We all had to speak English so it was a challenge. We had to be open-minded and work on our communication skills. We did a lot of team building. Our school had to prepare a display at a “Euro village”. Our country was the Netherlands. We did not win the EYP but we learnt a lot of interesting things!
Now I’m in my last year at the lycée, so I have less time for the GEC. I know though that the next generation has taken up the challenge of making the association active.
The GerbertEuroClub is a Junior Association set up in 2009 and run by pupils under 18. It is a non-profit association regulated by the July 1901 law. We have a teacher who helps us. The GEC was created by members of the “Section Européenne”. It was created in order to improve our English communication skills, to promote the European ideal, and to help the foreign pupils in our lycée feel at home in Aurillac. I took part in and organized several activities.
To win a place at the EYP we needed to answer a question, and to get involved in a group project. The question was about our favorite European monument, and our project was to create electronic “postcards” which we would send to pupils in other European countries.
Taking part in the EYP taught me self-confidence and to work in a group with people I had never seen before. It gave me a positive idea about the European Union and its aims.
I have visited various art and photo exhibitions organized by the GEC.
I have helped to organize the yearly Europe Day celebrations and create the first electronic postcard which we sent off during a little ceremony.
This year was my last year as a member of the GerbertEuroClub. It taught me to be more self-confident and organized, and I hope that the GEC will bring to other pupils what it brought me!
