TWO Lower Sixth pupils from Friends' School have just returned from a dream work experience week at Eurodisney in Paris.

Arianna Marano and Shannon Rainey spent a week with the creative design team at the theme park thanks to the enterprise of their French language teacher, Mr Stephen Moore.

The girls didn't need to be asked twice and once in the land of the Magic Kingdom were pleased to be invited to play an active role in the work of the team. They were also able to take in some of the atmosphere around the theme park when time permitted.

It wasn't quite all the fun of the fair though and an early rise was required to get from the hotel to the Imagineering team's office for 8am each day.

Arianna said: "Everyone at Eurodisney was brilliant and let us get involved in all that was going on right from the start".

She was particularly impressed with the attention to detail of the management and backroom staff at the park: "We were allowed to sit in on lots of meetings and couldn't believe how something like the colour of a litter bin could be the cause of so much discussion."

Shannon was also delighted to have been given such a wonderful opportunity to practice her language skills: "It took a couple of days to get used to being in a French working environment, and working with so many different professionals the vocabulary was really challenging...but the best bit was getting to test the rides before the park opened some mornings!"

Mr Moore explained how the ultimate in work experience opportunities arose: "My brother Philip is a pastor in Lagny sur Marne which is not far from Eurodisney. "One of the members of his church works in the theme park and was able to put me in touch with the manager of the department who sorted out the placement."

The trip was a success and may well be repeated in future years. "We don't know, but we hope so. The girls made a good impression," Mr Moore added.

The hosts were full of praise for the Friends' girls and the school received several emails from France which is quite positive for the fledgling relationship:

"Shannon and Arianna were delightful, professional and eager to listen and learn," said the Imagineering team manager, Cathleen Nunez. "It was a pleasure to host them."

Ulster Star
08/02/2008