Laughter rings through the quiet library as five seniors file out of the green room and quickly stifle their humor with sheepish grins.
They congratulate each other as they make their way up to the fifth-floor French 6 classroom, where their teacher, Gina Baker, awaits.
The seniors have spent the past class period creating a music video to the French song “Ton Visage” by MPL as a part of the worldwide Manie Musicale competition.
Manie Musicale is a bracket modeled after March Madness, but instead of basketball, French students from across the globe vote on their favorite French songs in a friendly competition.
“I can't wait to see the winner and see which song got the most votes,” French 4 student Loïck Vinaimont said. “I hope my favorite song makes it to the final.”
To increase learning and competition, all 800,000 students participating in Manie Musicale have the opportunity to submit their own creative projects based on the songs. These projects are judged by the creators of Manie Musicale and, if deemed fit, are put in the video of the winning song each week and sent to all schools participating.
“I think the neat thing about these projects is the personal style and the students’ ability to do their own take on the song or the singer,” Baker said. “I've seen some really cool stuff.”
The seniors in French 6 put in extra effort this year with their carefully orchestrated music video choreographed and filmed without external help.
While their video was not chosen to be shown in the weekly song announcement, they received a good grade on the assignment and it provided a unique and creative way to increase their understanding of the French language, according to French 6 student and music video participant, Miranda Liberda.
“I like Manie Musicale because it allows me to be more creative about how I want my projects to turn out, and I can make some cool designs or drawings related to the video,” Vinaimont said.
The creation of the music video and Manie Musicale in general has been a way for French students of all levels to branch out creatively and enjoy the language in a creative way, according to Baker.
“The French 6 kids were giggling in the green room downstairs, and I thought, ‘This isn't going to be any good. What are they doing?” Baker said. “And it really is, it's so good. And they really worked hard. And so that just goes to show you that you can work hard and still have fun.”
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