A cultural and collective project developed at the Lanouette school in Saint-Antonin was recently honored during the prestigious Essor recognition awards ceremony. He was awarded the Initiative prize, rewarding projects that stand out for the dynamism of their educational and cultural environments, on December 4 at the Séminaire de Québec.
Developed during the last school year, the project entitled “Art for the rights of the child: a creative exploration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child” led the school’s students to create four works distinct collectives.
It was a great and successful team effort since nearly 400 students, from preschool to sixth grade, participated in the projects which took place over several months.
The subject of children's rights was chosen in line with the theme of the traditional Lanouette school musical for 2023-2024. It was a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone and raise awareness among young people about this great cause.
“Plastic art is something powerful for raising people’s awareness of all kinds of realities,” shared Sylvie Lalancette, head of the Plastic Arts concentration at the Lanouette school.
At the start of the school year, school teachers introduced students to children's rights through educational materials. Four specific rights were then chosen to be represented in the works: the right to housing, the right to a clean and safe environment, the right to a family and the right to education.
Thus, a frieze of plaster tiles symbolizing a home for all the children of the Earth, a four square meter fresco evoking through trees the right to grow up in a clean and healthy environment and a banner pastel flowers on the right to live in a loving and respectful family were created.
The right to education was also represented by three artists' books circulating in classes, underlined Ms. Lalancette. “The theme was 'I love learning!' Each student created a page as a printout. They had to represent something that they liked to learn,” she described, specifying that each of the creations exploited different techniques and mediums such as sculpture, watercolor, painting and oil pastel.
“This project made them aware of their rights, but also of the fact that there are many children in the world [qui sont victimes d’injustice]. I think it was important that they could become aware of it,” said the teacher.
The project was very unifying at Lanouette school. Even today, the works serve as premises for great discussions, since they are exhibited inside the school establishment.
“There is a strong sense of belonging that is developed. The children like to show us their creations, proud to have a part of themselves in these works.”
The Essor recognition awards highlight the passionate work of teachers and school officials who carry out innovative artistic projects imbued with culture.
For Lanouette school, this is a second provincial recognition in just a few years. The school won the 2016-2017 Essor prize for the musical “Plume-Rouge au pays de la marmite”.
“It’s always a great source of pride to see that our projects receive an award of this magnitude,” rejoiced the school’s director, Édith Michaud.
Note that a $2,000 grant is awarded to the teams of the five winning projects in the Initiative category. This sum will go towards carrying out the current project, which focuses on sustainable development.
In the photo, we find Suzanne Tremblay, government assistant to the Minister of Education, Shirley Dorismond, parliamentary assistant to the minister responsible for Social Services, Marie-Victorin MP, Sylvie Lalancette, project manager, Édith Michaud, school director and Mathieu Rivest, government assistant to the Minister of Culture and Communications and Member of Parliament for Côte-du-Sud.
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