Stand With Ukraine visited the Camille Claudel High School in Mantes-la-Ville for a second time, engaging with 10th-grade students and those in the European Spanish section as part of a project funded by the Île-de-France Region. The project aims to raise awareness among high school students in the Paris region about the European Union’s challenges, European citizenship, and the conflict in Ukraine.
Beyond the institutional and geopolitical aspects discussed during the exchange, this session also explored another facet of the war: the importance of culture and the commitment of artists in the international mobilization supporting Ukraine.
Through examples of music videos, film productions, and public engagements by actors and musicians, we showed the students how present Ukraine is in the global cultural space and how culture can be a powerful tool for raising awareness and fostering solidarity.
This approach helped make the conflict more concrete and accessible to the students by connecting it to references familiar in their daily lives.
We also highlighted the central role played by Ukrainian youth from the very first days of Euromaidan in 2013. Indeed, it was young people who were the first to massively demonstrate their desire for Ukraine to join the European project. Today, this youth remains on the front lines, both on the ground and in the media space, defending democratic values, freedom, and the sovereignty of their country.
This meeting was an opportunity to invite students to take a more personal and concrete look at European citizenship—a status that guarantees them rights and freedoms often taken for granted, but which elsewhere remain the subject of struggles and hopes.
We once again thank the teaching team at Camille Claudel High School, especially Cristelle Rage, for their warm welcome and dedication, their curious and dynamic students, as well as the Île-de-France Region for its support, which makes these enriching exchanges possible.
