East Leyden students line hallway with "catacombs"

Lining the walls in a hallway, the project represented the 18th Century Catacombs of Paris, situated in a labyrinth in the heart of underground Paris. Installed in former stone quarries, the catacombs contain the remains of more than six million Parisians.

According to George, 12 students in French I to French IV classes worked on the project that took two weeks to complete. “Students in first year French class were learning about several buildings in Paris,” George says. “Some were intrigued (by the catacomb), and since it was right before Halloween, I decided that it would be cool to recreate it in the hallway.”

Using 3D printers, George explains that “we created our own skulls from tape then printed and laminated three pictures. Students also made new posters by recycling old posters we used in class previously.”

Students learned a lot about the catacombs in general, but just as important, they realized that they needed to work together to finish such a big project. In addition, students “became more creative” as how to recreate some of the elements of the catacombs, George recalls.

“I’m proud of the students, and they should be proud of themselves, because they created something that is really awesome, intriguing and informative while having fun, and sharing their passion for the French culture with the whole school. I had staff, teachers and students come and ask me questions about it to learn more - I thought that was fantastic,” he says.