WICE: Like a phoenix rising from the ashes

WICE: Like a phoenix rising from ashes….

It was June, 2022, and the Board of Directors called a meeting to inform members that since nobody wanted to become President, and the organization was in such bad shape, they would cease to exist… How could WICE, an educational association, close its doors after more than 40 years of serving Paris’ English-speaking community?

Unless… unless somebody stepped up to the plate. Miracle of miracles, somebody did. His name is Rick Jones. A former military officer and recent member of WICE, he and his wife put out feelers to see if they would accept his candidature. They did!

This article tries to clarify the history of WICE, its strengths, its weaknesses, and where Rick and his team, after saving the association, are going next.

History

The continuing education organization was founded in 1978 to serve Anglophone trailing spouses. (Originally called Women’s Institute for Continuing Education, it used just the acronym a few years later.)  IBM gave a small grant as seed money and a few expats rented a small office at the American University of Paris. Smack in the middle of the women’s liberation movement, it taught women how to translate their life experiences (raising children, leading PTA’s) into relevant skills on their CV’s. Quickly, other courses were added: art history, “Living in France” (wine and cheese courses), languages, and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language, added in the early 80’s), and writing, (the Paris Writers’ Workshop in 1988).

At that time, its social aspect was secondary.  Like a school, we were “keen on intellectual, stimulating, Anglophone programs,” remembers Jill Bourdais, thrice president.

Strengths

Today, the PWW is Paris’ longest continuous writing workshop, and the TEFL program accredited by Rutgers University in New Jersey, so they must have done something right.

Why would someone volunteer dozens of hours per month to WICE during all of her stay in Paris? Ask Ulla Emonet, she wanted to escape her five children.

Rest assured, the former president and treasurer worked only during school hours, but was a better mother because of it, continuing, “I got a good feeling in the morning when I walked in.”

Like many people interviewed for this article, Ulla Emonet credited “a sense of belonging,” as recompense for her hard work. The trio that made the back office, Linda Crofton, Michèle Fieschi, and her, would work so hard that there was little, if any, private time. Linda Crofton, former office manager and TEFL director, describes WICE’s general mission, “… to create a welcoming atmosphere where people felt at home as soon as they walked in the door, where they could grow and be a part of French culture.”

Occasionally, Ulla would work the front desk. It was a difficult job- people from all over Paris and its region would call in looking for Anglophone resources.

Hard work characterized the TEFL the PWW programs, too.

TEFL

I took the 120-hour TEFL program in 2005-2006 and I was amazed by the work quality of Jackie Garçon and Hester Poumellec, the instructors. The program’s standards were so high that one (out of 12) of my classmates failed the program and re-took TEFL elsewhere.

Some people believe that if you can speak a language, you can teach it, but that’s like saying if you can eat food, you can cook it. Serious class preparation requires much thinking and planning to make it look seamless, and it takes a lot of work to run the program, too. Background hands recruit students, set-up rooms, accept and process payments, communicate with Rutgers, and make photocopies. Joanne Wourms, Director of Programs at the turn of the millennium, noted that the teacher trainers lacked some of that help, so they did it themselves for the love of the program.

PWW

The Paris Writers’ Workshop, in business since 1988, has taught about 70 (6 classes of 12) smart writers every other year since 1988. Smart not only for their writing skills, but for seizing the opportunity of enrolling in an intensive, five-day Parisian program for under 1,000€. Lorie Litchen, who has attended every workshop since 2014, calls it “Paris’ best-kept secret.” Her non-fiction course with Eric Freeze was “life changing” and the class spent “an hour or two on each (student’s) manuscript.”  She continued that the class was like “kindred spirits dropped together in a magical atmosphere.” Samantha Chang, head of Iowa’s renowned program, taught for the PWW, too. Monique Amaudry, former WICE president and PWW director, notes that instructors like the program so much that they ask to come back. Furthermore, Timothy J. Smith attended it in 2014 and went on to win several prizes.

Even COVID didn’t stop the PWW- it simply went online. Lorie Litchen credits WICE’s creative writing department in general and the PWW in particular to giving her some “me” time, a life outside her family and work. A loyal student not only takes, but she gives back: Lorie will be shadowing the current head of the program, Ellen Bryson, in 2026, in order to take the reins in 2028. Ellen, who has been the head of Creative Writing since 2023, managed to stop the PWW’s tendency to be independent.  Monique Amaudry, former WICE president and PWW director before her, had to do the same thing. Ellen noted that when she took over the program, there was no handover procedure between directors. She enjoys the challenge of bringing in these world-class teachers to a quality, intensive, educational experience program.

Weaknesses

With the PWW being such a good program, (TEFL stopped in 2008) why did WICE almost close its doors? Why did it go from over 1000 members to less than 200? Joanne Wourms, the former head of programs, points out that there was no official mentorship program in place and the handover of a particular department’s file was ad-hoc. If the outgoing head of a program met the incoming one, she would give the latter the file. Or else, it was stored at a key volunteer’s home. I knew that particular volunteer, who passed away in 2017. My guess is her files never made it back to WICE’s office.

Rick Jones, the president from 2022-2025, believes some of WICE’s difficulties stem from COVID, the decrease in people sent abroad, the ability of trailing spouses to find paid positions, the ability to learn online, overhead costs, and social charges. “Social charges” are non-negligible in France. For someone earning 2,000€ per month, the employer pays the state about 600€ for social services. All is not rosy for the employee, either. Their paychecks would read 2000€, but their take-home pay would be about 1500€, 500€ going to social services. As in any organization, it is only as strong as its weakest member. One long-time employee was rewarded with a used coffee book already dedicated to someone else. And as in any organization, office politics could create hard feelings.  It appears that one TEFL trainer disliked the way she was let go.

What happened in 2022? The president, Jill Bourdais, called two meetings with WICE’s membership to announce that unless a president was found was facing bankruptcy and unless a president was found, it would close its doors. Rick Jones and his wife Ellen Bryson would not accept its fate. They put out feelers to see if his candidature would be accepted, and formed a Board that worked tirelessly for the next several years.

If the office was too expensive, they would have a “virtual office” where Board members and volunteers would meet at cafés, their drinks reimbursed. If there were no files, they used the système D, (D for se débrouiller, in French, means to manage.) They reinvented the wheel. Above all, they contributed blood, sweat, tears, and time to the cause. Board members met twice a week, 3-4 hours each time, and came up with a business plan and naming conventions, both lacking at the time. The latter is a way to organize files. The folders’ names should answer two questions: does it describe the file? should I open it? These conventions were established with the help of a contracted librarian. As for the technical financial details, if WICE couldn’t afford an in-house person, they would contract for one.

In the 2010’s, the Board had kept the acronym but renaming it to “Where Internationals Connect in English.” Its mission had changed from being a predominately educational association to a social one.

In 2022-2023, they started to offer courses again and figure out the nuts and bolts of running things. In the following year, they added even more new courses and found some financial stability. In the past year, they have transitioned to a new team whose Board combines experienced and new members. Recently, they organized a donation campaign to fund temporary office rentals on a trial basis.

Future

What about the future? One of its goals is to bring back the TEFL program. How will they do that without bringing in its costs in terms of housing and salaries? Recently they organized a GoFundMe campaign to fund a new, small, permanent, office. Will that become too much of a burden? Will they stay with 3-month membership options that don’t bring in a lot of money but get people through the door?

You would need to ask Pamela Combastet, the current President. Former president of the American Aid Society, twice president of AAWE, (the American Association of Women in Europe), and a Board member of AARO (Association of American Residents Overseas), she fears no challenge. Not only is she looking into TEFL, she is thinking of offering French language courses online for overseas members. "Pam has tons of experience leading volunteer organizations. She has a huge network and an upbeat approach. I'm glad to hear she and WICE found each other," says Anna Eklund-Cheong, who taught a haiku writing class at WICE.

What is Rick’s advice?” Lots of cups of coffee… get to know the volunteers.”

How will Pam proceed? “Listening to others, talking to everyone, and anticipating what they might want. And hopefully adding a bit of fun into the mix.” She continues, “It is an honor to be asked to do something to make a difference in the world.” WICE chose the right president. The phoenix continues to rise.