Over 150 students from Ruston High School, Ouachita Parish High School, Neville High School, West Ouachita High School, River Oaks, Ouachita Christian School, West Monroe High School, and Sterlington High School participated.
The theme of this year’s celebration was "Next Generation: Language, the Universal App."
The students participated in salsa lessons and competed in a game designed by ULM students which highlighted the need for learning languages and understanding cultures.
They also had the opportunity to attend special presentations created by Bryan Butler, instructor of world languages; Dr. Mary Adams, associate professor of English; Dr. Charles Holloway, professor of world languages; Dr. Rebecca Stephenson, associate professor of English; Dr. Kioh Kim, assistant professor of education; Yunling Chang; and exchange students from South Korea.
ULM students opened the event with a skit created to demonstrate how difficult traveling can be without language skills, and ended the festival by demonstrating how knowing a language opens new doors and spoke about why they decided to major or minor in French or Spanish.
Students from River Oaks, Ouachita Christian School, West Monroe, and West Ouachita also participated in a talent show.