A skatepark in Wemotaci | A teacher and her ambitious project

“There is a high school student that I often meet. She was always withdrawn from the group, didn’t talk to anyone. But since there’s the skatepark, she comes to see me. She tells me about her life. She talks to me like no one is stopping her. Seeing the excitement that a simple skatepark can create is my paycheck. »

These words are those of Edith Lussier. A teacher who made it her mission to inaugurate a skatepark in Wemotaci. The Atikamekw community in which she works. Which is 115 kilometers from La Tuque, the nearest town.

All that connects Wemotaci to the rest of the world is a gravel road. In this remote region, even the cellular network does not show up.

Since she always had the ambition to work within an Indigenous community, Edith Lussier began teaching there almost five years ago. Before her first day, she “had no idea what to expect” from the small village of fewer than 1,200 residents. She discovered an endearing community there, but in which the children seemed bored.

“Some young people came to our house after school because they couldn’t find anything else to do,” the educational advisor at the Seskitin and Nikanik schools tells us.

While teaching sixth grade, M^me Lussier saw some students begin to drink alcohol. To pick up.

“Some people fall into vandalism,” she laments. Over the past few years, I have seen many things that you don’t want to see in a school. When things aren’t going well at home or at school, you find yourself empty-handed. You no longer have a source of motivation. »

Edith Lussier found motivation and a spirit of community in her own life, thanks to skateboarding.

In the community, besides the main road, there is no asphalt road. To skateboard, there were two options: the school bus stop or driving an hour and a half by car to La Tuque to have a little more space.

The need to create a skatepark was therefore real and found its way into Edith Lussier’s mind. But this path, like the one that leads to the community, would prove rocky. The creation of the skatepark would therefore become a “second job full time “.

“As a non-native, you can’t just show up in a community and tell others what to do. I had to understand their needs and present my ideas. I knew this was something that wasn’t going to happen in six months, and that was okay. I wanted to avoid imposing myself,” assures Edith Lussier.

“I saw that it turned them on”

To ensure young people’s interest, the teacher organized a skateboard clinic in Wemotaci, with coaches from Montreal. Faced with the enormous success of the activity, she organized an outing to the Saguenay snowboard and skateboard school.

“I could see that it turned them on, that they were happy to do something different. That those who were in their corner, with whom we didn’t really know what to do, seemed to wake up,” she recalls.

Faced with the obvious interest of the community, Edith Lussier began to increase the number of grant requests. She, who had never led such a project, was going to have to raise $250,000.

“The skatepark was supposed to open in June, but the grant requests were unsuccessful. At that time, I had to leave Wemotaci, but I decided to stay: I couldn’t leave before making sure that the project came to fruition,” says the 29-year-old woman.

His patience will have paid off. On September 20, with the rest of the community, Edith Lussier inaugurated the skatepark, which has since enjoyed immense popularity. Little by little, young people are adopting this sport that they knew little about.

“Not all young people who go to the skatepark skate. Some just slide on their butts, look at the others, but who cares: they move. They make friends. They learn small skills that will make all the difference in their lives,” rejoices Edith Lussier.

The skatepark has only been in place for a month and a half. And already, members of the community are seeing its benefits. “We notice that young people do less stupid things, that there is less vandalism in the community,” explains Joanie Aw-Neashish, whose daughter Mikonnys, 11, has recently been visiting the skatepark.

The arrival of the skatepark allows some young people to take part in individual sports for the first time. This is the case for Paige, 8 years old. “It really opens the door to a different clientele. My daughter is not a ball or soccer player. Now she will be able to do something she loves in the summer,” says her mother, Jessica Vollant.

Without even being asked, Jessica insists on one point.

“Sometimes it takes a person’s courage to make our dreams come true. That’s what Edith did for us here. »