A teacher committed to boosting the confidence of students with special needs

For Chantale Simard, who teaches visual arts to students with handicaps and social maladjustments or learning disabilities at Grandes-Marées high school, young people are an inexhaustible source of inspiration and motivation. “When I’m not at work, I miss them!” she admits. Day after day, she constantly innovates in order to set up new projects with the goal of enabling the students with special needs at her school to discover their strengths and reinforce their self-esteem.

Renée Pronovost

A counsellor committed to helping students discover the pleasures of getting involved and pushing back their limits

There is nothing instinctive about getting involved in projects, doing volunteer work or giving of one’s time. And this is the case among both youth and adults. So in order to develop a taste for social commitment, people often need a little helping hand, a word of encouragement or even just an inviting smile. At Mgr-A.-M.-Parent high school, the helping hand, encouraging word and inviting smile goes by the name of Renée Pronovost, the counsellor in spiritual life and community involvement who, ever since her arrival four years ago, has quite simply transformed students with her joie de vivre, dynamism and love of getting involved.

A guidance counsellor committed to offering students real-life learning and experimentation situations

A committed advocate of the guidance-oriented approach, Jean-François Perron, a guidance counsellor at L’Ancienne-Lorette high school, firmly believes that schools must provide students with real situations where they can actually apply what they learn if they hope to optimize their development. By setting up, among other things, the Soirées palpitantes project, an entrepreneurial initiative that involves 50 students annually and revolves around the presentation of a series of concerts, and a career day at the school that gives students the opportunity to meet with potential employers, Jean-François Perron establishes precisely the type of context that favours their development.