"Aurores boréales", the theme song that brings all our schools together!
In the context of the French and arts education curricula, the CSDCAB launched a writing project in fall 2024, led by artist Brian St-Pierre and Johanne Lefebvre.
For two weeks, every school in the district hosted an artistic tour, offering students a unique experience combining a performance, a writing workshop and the recording of a song written by the students themselves.
"Our desire was to take advantage of this program, to bring music and singing back into school life. This project gave us the opportunity to create a song that brings us together while supporting our board's strategic plan." says Geneviève Fortin-Robinson, Assistant Director of Educational Services.
An artistic and educational approach directly linked to the students' curriculum
Artist-songwriter Brian St-Pierre presented the artistic vision through a chorus, setting the tone and rhythm of the song. Key words illustrating the council's fundamental values of nature, diversity and catholicity were made available to the students to help them compose the song. The artists guided the students through the melodic and rhythmic work in harmony.
The young talents were recruited in each of the schools. At the Franco-Supérieur school, for example, the music class immediately became involved in the project. The project quickly revealed unsuspected talent in all the schools.
Each school encounter began with an inspiring performance, followed by a creative workshop and ending with the recording of a verse. The aim? To make each student shine, and value his or her creativity and commitment.
A learning project supported by all school principals
Principals and teachers were fully committed to the project, supporting the artistic team in selecting students, facilitating logistics and leading brainstorming sessions. This commitment ensured the serious and enthusiastic involvement of the students, the key to the song's success.
The project was also a source of learning on several levels:
- For students: development of ideas and organization of content, creation of texts and fundamental notions for writing, improvement of language skills in writing, ability to analyze and appreciate various artistic productions.
- For the educational team : "A richly instructive process that brought out everyone's strengths and supported collective creation". shared Véronique Morin, the educational consultant who accompanied the project.
- For Brian St-Pierre: a first experience of collaborative musical creation with so many schools.
An eagerly awaited and applauded song, a collective success!
Since the recording in October, the students have been looking forward to discovering the final product: their song, accompanied by their well-rehearsed choreography.
The unveiling was an emotional moment. Pride could be seen in the eyes of the young artists, and in the warm comments of families, staff and community members on the board and school pages.
Johanne Lefebvre, very moved at the unveiling of the song, confided: "The result is wow... it brought tears to my eyes.
Annica, a student at Notre-Dame-des-Écoles school, shared : "I was nervous during the recording and didn't know what it would be like. When I heard the song, I was proud of myself."
Thank you all for this wonderful adventure, which sets the tone for an exciting and enthusiastic summer!
