Since September 2025, the team at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery, located in the western suburbs of Paris, has been working closely with the French school Maurice Boyau School in Saint-Félix-de-Sorgues, Aveyron. The school is leading an ambitious and inspiring educational project titled “Lafayette Spirit: A Transatlantic Flight.”

As part of an international school exchange with the Rochambeau French International School in Washington, D.C., both institutions have chosen to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States by exploring the history and values embodied by the pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille.

The project aims to commemorate and highlight the commitment of the American volunteers who served in the French army and distinguished themselves during World War I. Several objectives structure this initiative, some of which have already been achieved. In particular, students are developing a document recounting the history of the 38 pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille.

As part of this effort, Corentin Molusson, interpretive guide at the memorial, has provided invaluable support by sharing documents and answering the students’ many questions about the unit’s history.  “This is a fabulous project that infinitely honors the pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille and their legacy,” he said.

On Nov. 11, the students of Maurice Boyau School paid a moving tribute to the Lafayette Escadrille by reciting a poem they wrote during their town’s commemorative ceremony.

Whiskey and Soda, lion mascots

Each class is also accompanied by a lion mascot, Whiskey and Soda, symbolizing the Franco-American bond and serving as a nod to the Lafayette Escadrille’s own original mascots. The students hoped to have their mascots fly aboard fighter aircraft from the French Air and Space Force as well as the U.S. Air Force. This goal has already been achieved for one of the mascots, turning a dream into reality.

At the end of the school year, both schools plan to place one mascot at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial and the other in the United States, at the foot of the statue of the Marquis de Lafayette in Washington, D.C., symbolically sealing this transatlantic partnership.

A meaningful educational project

Olivier Reggiani, principal and teacher at Maurice Boyau School, emphasized the importance of this initiative.

“I built this project around all the elements I want students to experience and work on, adapting it as we go,” he said. “So far, the project has exceeded my expectations thanks to the various forms of support we have received, including yours.”

Through this partnership, the American Battle Monuments Commission is proud to collaborate with schools to support meaningful educational projects that help transmit memory and strengthen the historic ties between France and the United States.