Program description 

Escadrille Louisiane (EL) is a program for Louisianans with a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution and an advanced level of French who aspire to teach in a French Immersion program in Louisiana schools. Named after Escadrille Lafayette, a group of 200 Americans who trained as pilots to fly for the French during World War I, the goal of EL is to fill Louisiana schools with qualified and certified fluent-French speakers from Louisiana who have their state’s heritage languages and culture at heart.

This is a 2-year graduate program which culminates in obtaining a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Elementary from Centenary College of Louisiana and becoming certified to teach French in Louisiana. Potential candidates who have already obtained their teaching certification will enroll in a Master of Education (M.Ed.) program at a Louisiana university of their choice. Participants will spend the first year of the program in Martinique, Guadeloupe, or Rennes (France) where they will work as TAPIF English Assistants (www.tapif.org) in a French school and take graduate courses at the ESPE and with Centenary. During the second year of the Master’s degree, the participants will teach French Immersion in Louisiana while completing the Master’s degree coursework.

Participants must teach French Immersion for at least three (3) years at an appropriate grade level at a public or public charter school in Louisiana. Upon graduation from the EL program, these teachers may be eligible for a $14,000 stipend paid over three (3) years.

Requirements

Candidates must:

• be a Louisiana resident.
• be 35 years of age or under.
• possess a genuine desire to teach French Immersion in Louisiana.
• be at least at the B1 level of the DELF exam or its equivalent. (http://www.ciep.fr/en/delf-tout-public/detailed-information-the-examinations)
• obtain a bachelor’s degree by May 2020.
• have at least a 2.5 grade point average.
• be academically eligible to return to your previous institution.
• be accepted into TAPIF (with placement in Rennes, France) for the 2020-2021 academic year.
• qualify for Centenary College’s MAT program or for a M.Ed. program in Louisiana (depending on whether or not you have already obtained teaching certification).

Application process

Contact

If you are interested in this program and would like more information, please contact Jennifer Rodriguez at CODOFIL at 337.262.5983 or jrodriguez@crt.la.gov or the Education Department at Centenary College at 318.869.5223. Also, the 2019 scholarship guide and application can be found at the scholarships page of our website.