Équateur 2009

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.

Nage-o-thon

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.

Café L'Entre-2

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!

Développement vie et société

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.

L'augmentation du goût de la vie

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.

Télévision Saint-Aubin

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.