The Village School Hosts French and Vietnamese Consulate Representatives

The Village School Hosts French and Vietnamese Consulate Representatives In an effort to cultivate strong relationships with foreign countries represented in our diverse and international community, The Village School recently launched a program called Consular Connections. As part of this new program, we hosted several representatives from both the French Embassy and General Consulate, as well as the Vietnamese General Consulate in Houston.

In an effort to cultivate strong relationships with foreign countries represented in our diverse and international community, The Village School launched a program called Consular Connections. 

As part of this new program, we recently hosted several representatives from both the French Embassy and General Consulate, as well as the Vietnamese General Consulate in Houston. During their visits, we invited the representatives to meet with the Head of School, teachers, school administrators, and students, to learn more about the Village experience and the school’s academic programs.

French Representatives Visit Village Virtually

On April 1, 2021, representatives from the French Embassy in Washington DC and the French General Consulate in Houston visited virtually with several Village students, and their French IB teacher and College Counselor. French General Consulate's Deputy Cultural Attache, Marion Autones, from Houston and Cultural Attache, Mathieu Ausseil, from the Embassy in Washington DC spent time interacting with Village students and staff.

Several students who are enrolled in IB French courses had the chance to practice their French during their conversation with the school's guests. In addition, a student who is enrolled in Village’s entrepreneurship program presented PiezoPace, a motorized prosthetic, which she is developing with another Village School student as a business under the program.

The students received valuable feedback from both Autones and Ausseil during the virtual visit which opened the door for potential internships for our Village School students with companies connected with the French Embassy and Consulate.

In fact, the Cultural Attache from Washington DC offered to write a letter of recommendation for one student to their college of choice and also shared resources to study abroad for all the students. 

Vietnamese Consulate Tours Village Campus

On April 20, 2021, representatives from the Vietnamese General Consulate in Houston were invited on-campus to tour the school, meet with Vietnamese students, and learn about the Village experience. After meeting with our Head of School, Katherine Brewer, The Honorable Nguyen Trac Ba, Consul General of Vietnam, Mr. Bui Hoang Phu, Deputy Consul General, and Mr. Pham Huu Bang, Consul, visited the high school and residential life buildings and met with the residential life staff. They met afterwards with several Vietnamese students and one of the college counselors.

The Village students who participated in the visit were able to talk with the representatives, share their Village experiences, and learn more about the consulate. The representatives offered to help with the coordination of Vietnamese charter flights for the Village School Vietnamese students who would like to go back home for the summer. In addition, the representatives offered to provide traditional Vietnamese food to our students during Vietnamese holidays and discussed opportunities for internships with the Vietnamese Consulate.

Through the Consular Connections program, we hope to continue fostering our relationships with the embassies and consulates who represent our student population. This program aims to deliver even greater inclusion and diversity to our students and families. We also hope to develop new opportunities and valuable local and international connections in support of our internship, entrepreneurship, and other school programs.