Iberia Parish's first French Immersion class. 

French may be the predominant language spoken in the Richie household in years to come.

A little over 20 years ago, Jaclyn Richie was a member of the first French Immersion Class in New Iberia. Her son, Jett, began the program this year at North Lewis Elementary.

“He’s the first one of the second generation,” said Richie, a teacher at New Iberia Senior High.

In the French Immersion program, students speak, read and write in French in subjects such as math, science and history. The program begins in kindergarten and culminates in the eighth grade. Students received a college credit.

“He’s working on letters, numbers and colors,” Richie said. “One of Jett’s goals is to reteach everything I learned back to me.”

Richie is on the board of Les Amie de I’Immersion Francais, a nonprofit organization that oversees the French Immersion Program at North Lewis. There is also an alumni association.

“My end goal is to have a French Festival,” she said. “That’s my baby. We’re trying to implement new things so this can spread throughout the entire community.”

Richie, who recalled how her grandparents spoke in French much more than English, hopes to reverse what she sees as a troubling trend.

“I think it’s part of our heritage that’s dying,” she said. “Less and less people are speaking French in Iberia Parish, especially Cajun French.”

Studies have shown that students in Immersion Programs perform better on standardized tests. Other benefits, according to the non-profit organization, include “a superior level of mental flexibility” and a “linguistic advantage as (students) are able to adopt two perspectives.”

“It opens your mind to a whole different way of thinking,” Richie said. “I hope it gets bigger. We definitely need sponsors to push a festival off the ground.”