KEARNS — It was a chance for French Olympic officials to get a feel for the life of American teenagers and for Kearns High School to show off just a bit.
Pierre Guichard, Jerome Rouillaux and Henri Boerio — all former Olympic athletes for France — appeared duly impressed by the school's TV production lab, coral aquariums and on-site child care.
But when asked by students of the Kearns High French Club what they liked most about Utah, Guichard did not hesitate.
"We are so surprised by your straight streets," he said.
The French delegation visited the high school as part of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee's "One School, One Country" program.
The education effort is 4 years old, "but we're really starting now," said its director, Judy Stanfield.
SLOC has invited all Utah schools to adopt a country participating in the 2002 Olympic or Paralympic Winter Games.
Students study the nation's culture, language, history and geography and also become acquainted with the country's winter sports and athletes.
When officials from different countries visit Salt Lake City, SLOC tries to arrange school visits for a cultural exchange.
Family and consumer studies teacher Teresa Dennison is the Olympic liaison for Kearns High School. She says she's broadened the program to include as many students as possible.
"I think in years past, this used to be a club, a group of Olympic student ambassadors," she said. "But we've integrated our study of France and the Olympics into areas of academics as well."
Students have attended pre-trial events, organized assemblies and taken advantage of the nearby Oquirrh Park Oval for physical education classes.
"Students from this area have very little chance of getting in to an actual event once the Olympics begin," said Dennison.
But her students are already experiencing the Olympics through this program, she said.
Stanfield said when visiting National Olympic Committees come to Salt Lake City, "they really want to come to the schools that have adopted their country."
Students in one of Kearns High's French classes asked the delegation about their athletic careers and education, and asked what they were doing to prepare for the Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Guichard told students he'd visited Salt Lake City once 30 years ago for the World Judo Championship.
He said his biggest concern as associate chef de mission for the French Olympic Committee is finding accommodations for the 700 to 1,000 French athletes, trainers and other supporters who will come to Salt Lake City in 2002.
Rouillaux, of the French Ministry of Youth and Sports, had been a fencer for the French Olympic Team, and said he was most impressed with the "quiet" and "wonderful natural environment" in the city.
"I think it will be a nice Games here," he told the students.
Boerio was a gymnast at Arizona State University 20 years ago, and told students that his first interaction with Utahns was at a meet with the University of Utah.
"We've all had athletic careers, and now we're trying to be helpful to younger teams," he said.
Last week, a delegation from Poland visited Hunter High School. And Wednesday, a member of the British delegation stopped at Ben Lomond High.