THEY HAVEN'T DISAPPEARED

They're dead but not gone.

They died on the fields of honor, and on November 11th, as they do every year in the Salle des Fêtes, two school captains recited the names of these former soldiers who died for France, lifting them for a moment from the coldness of the grave.

In the audience, not a word was heard. In front of all the pupils, one speaker followed another, recalling the sacrifice of these soldiers whose names are still so familiar. They were there, among us, in the words of a "rookie" who was ready to die, writing a letter to his family with a faire-part accent; in the heart-rending words of an English soldier's poem, his feet in the mud of the trenches, his chest open to machine-gun fire.

This was done in front of the school's new owners and members of the alumni association, who had previously laid a wreath of flowers on the grave of Edmond Demolins, founder of the École des Roches in 1899.

A NEW BEGINNING

With their memories rekindled, students, heads of house, teachers and parents applauded the new generation of captains as they received their badges on stage. Also on hand was Eva BERTAUD (Vallon : 2016 - 2018), the godmother of the class of 2025-2026, who had travelled from the Netherlands for the occasion. Introduced by Alain FELICIANO (Vallon 67-71), godfather of the previous class, a great advocate of classical education, the art of oratory and a fine connoisseur of the world of tea, Éva Bertaud aÉva Bertaud won over her younger godchildren with her willingness to answer any questions from Holland on the web.