With Sciences Po in 93

Since the beginning of the 2006 school year, seventeen classes of high-school sophomores attending one of four high schools in Seine-Saint-Denis (nearly 600 students) are part of a vast experimental project aimed at giving a leg up to disadvantaged students, and hopefully propelling them to the virtuous circle of success. Next year, when school begins in 2007, the program will incorporate juniors and, in 2008, it will include seniors. The ultimate aim is to create a new high school in Seine-Saint-Denis that uses innovative teaching methods—which include multidisciplinary lessons, personalized tutorials and academic support for all, joint initiatives with technological and general vocational programs, and a genuine and ongoing link to the world of business. Sciences-Po wanted this experimental program to be as open-ended as possible. Accordingly, the students will have access to both cultural and sport education, which the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation is partnering. Using the multiple talents of its grant winners, the Foundation has set up four workshops that allow students to discoverand practice theater, music, digital creation and sport.

Music Workshop
The music workshop will be led by Ahmed Mazouz (winner of a musician’s grant in 2005), leader of the rap group La Caution, using a formula that was tried at the Fête le Mur in April 2006.
Around twenty students from the Bondy and Saint- Ouen high schools will work with him on writing and music, with the ultimate goal of recording their artistic creation.

Digital Workshop
The digital workshop, which will also host around twenty studentsfrom the same two high schools, will be conducted by Djeff Regottaz (winner of a digital creator’s grant in 2000). His aim is twofold: present the history of video games and computer science, and then introduce his students to the tools of digital creation. A web site and a blog will be used to present the various phases of the work done by these young people, culminating in an exhibit featuring their collective creation of playable objects/installations.

Theater Workshop
As professor of literature at Sciences-Po, Florian was an early adopter of the educational experiment
being conducted with Seine- Saint-Denis. Working with the Comédie des ChampsÉlysées, he will offer the most motivated students the opportunity to participate in a practical artistic workshop (writing and/or acting) and discover the world of the theater behind the scenes. By the end of the school year, these students will perform their creation at the time of a party thrown at the Comédie des Champs-Élysées.

Sport Workshop
As for the sport activities, they take two forms: the workshop led by Jean-Philippe Gatien and his association Ping Attitude, will look at the sport and the Olympic Games from a historical and geographic perspective as well as offering the opportunity to practice table tennis (the top sport in the next Olympic Games, in 2008 in Beijing) and discover various occupations related to sport. In fact, the most inspired students will help to organize the Grand Prix International alongside Jean-Philippe Gatien, in Levallois Perret. For the second initiative, since the Épinay high school is the only one in the Greater Paris Area to offer a sport option, the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation has offered to supplement the program by opening it up to sport economy, with the support of the skills and structures of Team Lagardère.