Lycee Ouzoud English Presentation Show

Today the Access students put on a great show! They did dialogues, sketches, creative writing, and songs all in English! Here are some photos from the show:

Good job Access students! Your commitment to English language and American culture is inspiring. 

Welcome to Lycee Ouzoud!

Lycee is the French word for High School, and it is used in Moroccan Arabic as well. In Moroccan Arabic it is pronounced Lee-see.

The students in the Access Program regularly attend different high schools around Azilal, but on Saturdays they come to Lycee Ouzoud for 4 hours of English instruction and culture.

This is the front of Lycee Ouzoud. On weekdays this space is packed with students meeting with their friends and enjoying the class breaks. 

This is the view of main street in Azilal from the entrance of Lycee Ouzoud. You can see stores, offices, and apartments right nearby. 

This is the football (soccer) field at the high school. Kids can play here after school or on the weekends. Because of the dry weather, this field can get really dusty!

This is a view of the teacher's lounge at the high school. You can see that the school is divided up into different buildings around the campus.

Here are the rooms where the Access Program is held. All the classrooms at Ouzoud open to the outside with big windows and doors. There is no heating or air conditioning in the school so the windows help regulate the temperature when it is hot, and students wear lots of layers in the wintertime to stay warm.

This is a view of the central courtyard of the school. You can see the Moroccan flag and some artwork. The campus is full of trees and places to chat with friends between classes. 

How is Lycee Ouzoud different than your school? Do you like it? 

A day in the life of a girl in Azilal

This is Khawla Daki. She is a 16 year old student in Azilal. You can read her student spotlight here. This is what a typical schoolday is like for Khawla:

I wake up at 6:00 every morning. I love to listen to the radio in the morning because there is a mix of music, news, sports, and everything! I listen to the radio while I get ready for school and I take some time to revise my lessons for the day. For breakfast my mom makes delicious Moroccan msemn, which is a fried bread. I like to eat my msemn with cream cheese and olive oil, and I always have a glass of mint tea. I don't like breakfast too much, but my mom leaves out the msemn for me so I can eat before school.

Around 7:00 I go to my friend's house to pick her up so we can walk to school together. We live close to school so it is only a 10 minute walk. When we get there I talk with my friends Ikram, Khadija and Ayoub about their lives and our classes. School doesn't start until 8:00 so we have time to chat.

Everyday my school schedule is different. In Morocco we even go to school on Saturdays. But here is an example of a schoolday for me.

At 8:00 I begin my day with English class. I love English class! We have English for an hour and then we have a break. On the break we are allowed to leave school so I go with my friends to a little shop and buy candy and drinks and chat about the morning. It is only for 5 minutes. After that I go back to school for my Islamic Education class. I really like my Islamic Studies teacher. He is really good at explaining and we have lots of time for discussion. This class is given in Standard Arabic.

On some days my classes don't begin until 10:00. On those days, instead of having breakfast at home, I meet my friends at a little cafe and we have juice and raib, a Moroccan yogurt. I still wake up early so I can see my friends.

At 10:00 my Arabic class begins. It is not my favorite class because the teacher is very serious. Arabic is a different language than our everyday darija (one of our local languages) so we study it just like English and French. No one speaks Standard Arabic at home but it is important for school and jobs.

At noon I get to go home to have lunch with my family. My mother makes us a yummy tajine or, if it is Friday, couscous! I do not have time to help my mother with cooking because I am studying all the time. I am very serious about my studies. I have one older sister who is an engineer in Rabat, and another older sister who works as a nurse in a nearby city called Beni Mellal. I use my lunch time to eat with my family and prepare my things for my afternoon studies.

At 2:00 I have math class. My math teacher is serious but very kind. Our math class is given in two languages, both Arabic and French. For example, on Fridays this class is in French.

After math I have science. This class is also given in Arabic and French. Lately we have been studying biology and it is so interesting!

At 5:00 the schoolday is over for me. I sometimes go to Ikram's house to hang out, sometimes I stay at school to play football or to study in the library.

6:00 is cascoute time. Cascroute is like a snack and my mother makes bread. My favorite is a special moroccan bread called harcha. I love to eat harcha with nutella! I also have a drink of chocolate milk or coffee.

We have a light dinner much later, like potatoes and salad for example. In the evening between cascroute and dinner I take time to do my homework and watch TV with my family. My favorite show is called The Rachid Show. It is a famous talk show in Morocco. I like to watch it with my family before I go to bed.

Sometimes my family isn't home, and when I have the house to myself I love to dance! I always dance when I am alone at home. 

A day in the life of a boy in Azilal

This is Salah Eddine Ait Chitache. He is a 16 year old student in Azilal. You can read his student spotlight here. This is what a typical day of school is like for him:

At 6:00 in the morning I wake up and pray. My mom fixes me a breakfast of tea, milk and bread. I get ready for school and if I have time I read a little before leaving the house. 

At 7:30 I walk to school. It is about a 20 minute walk. I like to walk alone instead of with friends because it gives me time to think about my day. 

At 8:00 my first class starts. My school schedule is different everyday, but sometimes I begin with math. My math class is given in Standard Arabic, which is different than the local languages I speak outside of class. For two hours we have math. It seems like a lot but I like it! I want to be an astronaut so I know math is important. 

After two hours we have our first break from school. I usually stay in the school and talk with my friends about our homework and how the math class went. It is nice to have a break after two hours of math.

My next class on some days is Arabic. This class, and my French class, are very serious this year because at the end of the year I will be taking the first part of a very important test called the bac. So we practice for this big national exam during our two hours of Arabic. 

At noon we are released from school to go home for lunch. I take this time to hang out with my family, do any homework and preparations for the afternoon, and I pray. My mother makes a delicious lunch and we all share it. After two hours I have to go back to school.

In the afternoon I have two hours of French. I like my French teacher a lot, he creates a really welcoming environment. As I said before, this class is important because of the upcoming national exams. 

When French is over my schoolday is finished at 4:00. I usually stay at school for some time, hanging out with friends or playing football on the school fields. Then I go home.

My family eats cascroute, which is like a snack in the early evening. I don't like cascroute though, so I usually skip it and work on my homework or read. Instead I have a small dinner prepared by my mother later in the evening, like a pizza or some spaghetti. Then I pray again. Muslims pray 5 times every day. I don't usually go to the mosque to pray, I like to pray at home.

I read a lot, sometimes until 2:00 in the morning. I also have a lot of preparations to do for school, especially my homework in math and physics. The rest of my family goes to bed before I do. But I like to stay up late chatting and reading.  2:00 is a late bedtime but I drink lots of tea throughout the day to keep me awake!!