Who we are
The Sète-Pleasantville Collaborative (SPC) is a unique cultural and educational exchange program, founded by two retired IBM Research colleagues with a shared vision of fostering understanding through science and culture. The program brings together students and educators from the U.S. and France, giving them the opportunity to share their projects and immerse themselves in each other’s cultures and languages.
This year, the exchange has already created incredible memories:
- In April 2024, students from Pleasantville traveled to Sète, France, where they presented their projects and experienced French culture firsthand.
- In November 2024, students from Sète came to Pleasantville to do the same, forging friendships and building bridges across borders.
None of this would be possible without the dedication and support of our educators.
Our partners – Sète Expo Sciences
Our partners, Sète Expo Sciences were formed over a decade ago by Franck and Regince Granier and had installed Paul Borrel as their president. This enabled the Pleasantville students to travel to Sète and participate in a large Science expo which displayed their projects. This expo ran some three days during which the excitement of the younger participants was palpable and helped elevate the happiness in the large hall. The Pleasantville Students comprised some 3 of over 50 projects that were displayed at the expo where they presented their work in French. Impressively, the Mayor of Sète came to talk with each of the 50+ groups about their projects including our own Pleasantville students.
Sète Expo Sciences https://www.setexposciences.fr created the exposition which our students attended and reported on the corresponding visit of the students from France on their web site. During their visit to Pleasantville, Deb Hurdis and Christine Pallotta, the PHS French and Science teachers organized much of their visit including an open air bus to NYC, a visit to the famed IBM TJ Watson Research Lab in Yorktown Heights and West Point, to name just a few locations. A corresponding, but smaller exhibition of the work from Sète together with presentations from our students completed the visit.
The Sète contingent’s visit to Pleasantville and the original PHS trip to Joliot-Curie school in Sète provided unique insights for both groups. The Sète team participate in a School which draws on some 100,000 students from a large cachement area covering an equally large economic spectrum. The Sète contingent soon learned all about Pleasantville’s compartatively much smaller geography and despite the fact that Pleasantville’s population draws on a much smaller region, the resources at PHS astounded our visitors. This pointed to the large difference in educational structure, the resources assigned to the two schools and the comparative wealth of the two regions, where the median household income is some 400% higher in Pleasantville than in Sète Of course these are rough approximations, but they do help explain the surprise our visitors expressed when they visited us.
These two trips have cemented a relationship which we hope will continue when the very same students who exchanged visits have their own families who will repeat their experience !
A little history
- Paul Borrel and Jurij Paraszczak worked at IBM Research
- Paul returned to Sete and connected with Sete Expo Sciences which had been sponsoring science and technology collaboration for many years
- Paul reached out to Jurij and we decided to create a cross pond collaboration
- Working with Deb Hurdis and Christine Pallotta, we identified 3 students in Pville and associated projects
- After many zoom sessions with Sète the Pville contingent visited Sete to participate in an exposition
- Deb and Christine prepared the students and came to Sete with us
- 7 months later Sète came to Pville and history ensued
Contact us
Email: TBD