In September, students in grade 7e and 8e Aurores boréales had the opportunity to take part in the Leadership Camp held at the Quetico Conference Center in Atikokan.
This authentic and enriching cultural experience, which fully embraced the Francophone language and culture, enabled the students to become aware of their place as leaders within the Francophonie, in terms of spirituality, the integration of Aboriginal perspectives and their own identity-building.
Activities, workshops and animation focused on the four components of the Council's approach to transforming the student learning experience: francophonie, catholicity, well-being and reconciliation.
The workshops
During their stay at Quetico, the students took part in several workshops that helped them develop their leadership skills:
- Improvisation with expert speaker Vincent Poirier from the Improtéine group.
- Carving a talking stick with Daniel Richer dit Laflèche, Abenaki from the Ottawa region.
- Meeting a wide range of group challenges and take part in an activity to consolidate spiritual values to better getting to know each other and their leadership styles, led by students in class 12eyear at École secondaire catholique de La Vérendrye.
- An escape room entitled The underground fortress with the goal of saving the world's francophonie through puzzles, collaboration and communication strategies. This workshop was led by our Évasions mobiles speakers, Éric Marcotte and Nick Marcil.
- Around the campfire, Daniel Richer dit Laflèche recounted Aboriginal tales from his oral tradition, making connections with Aboriginal spirituality and nature.
- A Francophone dance to create links between students from all CSDCAB schools.
- A magic show and a mini improvisation tournament to entertain students while having fun in French.
Testimonials
For many, it was an unforgettable experience that enabled students to forge new friendships and live fully in their French language and culture.
Students in class 7e year students from École catholique Val-des-Bois (Marathon) shared their favorites:
"I really enjoyed the improvisation activities with Vincent Poirier from the Improtéine group" - Jaylee
"I've made lots of new friends and connections with people from other cities" - Ayden
Emma, a member of the teaching staff at Val-des-Bois, also highlighted her favorite part: "I discovered the escape rooms and they're so much fun. We escaped before our time was up too! The teams had to work together to complete the challenges, and that's really where I saw the best teamwork of our trip!"
