A project committed to rallying an entire school around a stimulating art project

For the past 10 years, virtually all the students at Saint-Anselme high school have shared a common passion for one project: a huge theatrical production. Over the years, a total of eight plays have called on the perseverance, commitment, creativity, rigour and determination of students and teachers alike. With plays ranging from the Jungle Book to Aladdin, and the Lion King to Shrek, this year the students will dazzle audiences with an adaptation of the animated film Ice Age. Actors, acrobats, dancers, singers, musicians and technicians will thus be given the chance to showcase their talents before the some 5,000 spectators expected to attend.

Students committed to redistributing the fruit of their efforts to underprivileged families

When Les mains de Champlain – a cooperative run entirely by students at Hélène-de-Champlain high school – established the extracurricular project L’augmentation du goût de la vie, it immediately had a major impact on the community. Thanks to their pedagogical, collective vegetable garden, the students managed among other things to donate 2,000 pounds of organic vegetables to more than 130 underprivileged families. Covering an area of 6,000 square feet, the vegetable garden has become a learning laboratory and place for sharing for 50 young students and is so successful that plans are already under way to double its size by summer 2010.

A project committed to providing access to drinking water in Nigeria

If you’ve never attended an ethical and eco-friendly fashion show, you would have been dazzled by the Défilé BLEU 2010 organized by students at Saint-Laurent high school and presented eight times last April. With the primary goal of raising awareness among young people of water related issues, the spectacular event offered the some 2,750 spectators who attended one of the eight presentations a series of 12 tableaux showing just how fragile this resource is. Requiring six months of preparation and the commitment of 300 students, the fashion show was also a fund-raiser for a project to provide access to drinking water in Nigeria.

A project committed to modifying polluting habits at school

Over the past five years, the Comité Action Planète at De Rochebelle high school has carried out a large number of actions, which have helped change polluting habits inside and even outside the school. Among other things, the school and students installed multi-material recycling bins, set up a project for collecting used batteries, recuperated school supplies that were still serviceable, promoted environmentally-friendly lunch boxes, hosted collections for used bikes, made ecological shopping bags, planted trees and organized the “Wô les moteurs!” campaign, all with the goal of proving that it is possible to look after our planet.

A project committed to promoting healthy eating thanks to the opening of a health food shop

Five years ago, six students at Vanier high school found a way of encouraging the entire student body to adopt healthy eating habits. Tired of not being able to buy nutritious food at their own school, they came up with the bold idea of opening a health food shop on school premises and it turned out to be an instant success. The Dep-explo Jeune COOP can now count on the collaboration of more than 50 students, has won many awards and is recognized throughout the province, in large part thanks to the creation of a start-up kit that is available to all educational institutions wishing to launch their own Dep-explo venture.

A project committed to promoting the benefits of physical activity through a running challenge

Climbing the equivalent of seven times Mount Everest, that is to say 61,240 metres, in only two and a half hours is a feat that might seem colossal but this was nonetheless what students at Pointe-aux-Trembles high school accomplished at the beginning of February 2010. As part of the Altitude challenge, every day for five days 400 participants embarked on a wild 30-minute race up and down the school stairs. This was how, thanks to an original yet simple idea, the students chose to promote physical activity while creating a rallying event at their school.

A project committed to giving third-world children the right to education and freedom

Once in a while an event will trigger something off, turn our lives upside down and prompt us to make a wonderful gesture. For Caroline Arbour, a Secondary 5 student at the École d’éducation internationale in McMasterville, it was the Millennium Summit held in April 2009 where she attended a talk given by Craig Kielburger, founder of the Free the Children organization. Inspired by his words, she decided to in turn make a tangible gesture and organize a huge fund-raiser. Thanks to her project “24 Hours of Silence,” Caroline and her friends raised more than $16,000 to help children in Sierra Leone and Haiti.

A project committed to getting students to swim for the greater well being of sick children

Swimming and getting others to swim for a good cause is what Audrey Lortie and Julie Boucher, two Secondary 5 students at De Rochebelle high school, decided to do as part of their personal end-of-school project for the international studies program. The project took the shape of a huge swim-a-thon held on December 20 that brought together a hundred or so swimmers and succeeded in raising an amazing $1,765 for Opération Enfant Soleil.

A student coffee shop project committed to enabling students to take part in an entrepreneurial venture

“Build it and they will come,” said the little voice in Kevin Costner’s head in the movie Field of Dreams. And this is probably what the students at Antoine-de-St-Exupéry high school heard when they set up their own student coffee shop called L’Entre-2. In operation for five years, the coffee shop serves some 900 customers a week, stages thematic events and, more importantly, has helped create a strong feeling of belonging within the school community. An example of how a dream can become a success story!

A project committed to fighting school dropout thanks to an introductory course in theatre, voluntee

With the goal of offering special needs students a new formula that would favour their sense of personal achievement while renewing their interest in school, professionals at Jean-de-Brébeuf high school created, from A to Z, the Développement vie et société project. And it must be said that their initiative hit the bull’s-eye because, ever since it was set up, the project has prompted these students to embark on the path of social commitment. Volunteering at the soup kitchen, the school newspaper, a theatrical play, a show on the CKRL community radio station, short job training courses, a fresco and other projects are now all part of the everyday lives of these young people.

A project committed to enabling young people to take part in humanitarian aid trips to Ecuador

An increasing number of high schools are setting up humanitarian aid trips as a means of enabling students to witness firsthand the everyday realities of other nations around the world. This was the case at Augustin-Norbert-Morin high school, where teacher Véronique Corbeil wished to enable her students to partake in an experience of this kind. The only difference this time however was that, instead of taking students from the regular program, she made the trip with a group of special needs students. The major undertaking took place from October 22 to 30 and has had a huge impact on these young people.

Students committed to putting an end to absenteeism and boosting student motivation

Thanks to the creation of the Télévision Saint-Aubin (TVSA) project, the Centre éducatif Saint-Aubin in Baie-Saint-Paul has succeeded in kindling a sense of belonging among students, eradiating absenteeism and boosting the students’ self-esteem. Coordinated for the most part by a class of special needs students between the ages of 12 and 14, the project is a way of showcasing student accomplishments, be it in sports, the arts, the sciences or any other discipline. Using a giant screen set up in the school entrance hall, TVSA broadcasts all the latest news in the morning before class, at recess and during lunch hour.