Students at Ecole Connaught participate in Friday's beanbag toss.--NEWS PHOTO JEREMY APPEL
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
For the past couple weeks, Ecole Connaught has hosted festivities for winter carnivale, in keeping with its mandate of immersing students in French Canadian culture.
The programming, which wrapped up Friday, included a variety of winter activities, from making maple syrup snow candies to cardboard ski races and, of course, appearances by le Bonhomme Neige.
“Because we’re a French immersion school, we really want to give kids authentic French experiences,” says Courtney Mason, a Grade 4 teacher at Connaught, who was part of the carnival committee, which has been planning the festivities since December.
“We want kids to know there’s French outside of the school, so it’s not just you come to school and speak French at school, there’s experiences they can have outside of these walls that they’re really lucky to experience because they have a second language.
“It’s a very authentic experience, rather than in a box at the school.”
There was a slight paring down of activities this year due to lower enrolment, but the committee still ensured there were enough activities to keep each class busy, she said.
The main event is a school-wide tug-of-war game in the gym at the end of the day Friday, Mason added.
Some of the activities are more Quebecois-inspired, such as maple syrup snow candies and playing musical spoons, while others are simply intended as fun winter games. The tug-of-war and shoe box skiing fall into the latter.
Connaught vice principal Dianne Spencer, who was also involved in the organizing committee, said the events are sort a of homecoming for students in Crescent Heights High School’s French immersion program, who began their education at Connaught.
“Every year we get some of the older kids who are former students to come. They love coming back and enjoying carnival,” Spencer said. “They’re great role models for speaking French.”
In addition to the aforementioned activities, students participate in a drawing contest, as well as the crowning of the carnival king and queen during the first week.
There was also a festive lunch Friday, with French toast, apple turnovers, sausage, apple juice and other French fare, Spencer said.
She says the events are intended to mimic Quebec’s own carnivale.
“They have a whole lot of activities that happen out there, so we try to do the same thing here and choose activities that represent going out and enjoying winter, because that’s the whole idea,” said Spencer.
“It’s really cold, not this year, but you still get to experience it.”
