If there’s one thing the French immersion program at McRoberts secondary is lacking, it’s visibility. “In the physical plant of the school, there’s little evidence that we’re in the building,” said Julie Anne Mainville, head of the school’s French immersion department. “Our sign outside is bilingual, but that’s about it.”
Determined to change that, Mainville and her fellow teachers gave students a project: to think about who they are as Francophone learners in the school, and to develop a definition of their identity. The students were challenged to develop a visual representation of that identity for a school contest, and after teachers selected the top designs, students got to vote on the best design.
Grade 9 student Emily Gong created the winning design that includes symbols of McRoberts, community, French culture, multiculturalism and Canada. It was expanded into a 36 square-foot mosaic to be permanently displayed in the McRoberts school library.
Quebec artists Dominique Côté and Mathieu Bergeron, of Atelier Phébus, arrived on Dec. 6 with all materials in hand, ready to engage the students in this mosaic making project.
They spent four, full days teaching French Immersion students how to assemble the piece of art. Students worked collaboratively in French under the guidance of the artists during their French class blocks.
“We wanted to create community and, in order to do that, we needed to make ourselves visible,” she said. This project offered McRoberts FI students an opportunity to do just that. “McMath and McRoberts are fundamentally different schools because we have this program, and it’s important to celebrate our unique French culture and the work our kids do.”
Earlier in November, French students at McRoberts and McMath were treated to a musical performance by the four-person a capella Quebec group QW4RTZ in a special performance on bullying and overcoming challenges at school.
The four male artists sang mostly in French and discussed their personal experiences of bullying with students. Their performance was “awesome,” Mainville said.
“The kids absolutely loved it. It’s probably one of the best performances we’ve brought into the school because they engaged so well with the kids.”
One artist described how he overcame his experience of bullying by standing up and confronting his bully, while another described how his peers at school were taking advantage of him at a time when his home life was difficult. A third was “Joe Popular at school,” Mainville said. “He was the good looking, athletic, perfect guy who was always getting into mischief at school. He spoke about how it became difficult as he grew into an adult to overcome the attitudes people had about him being irresponsible.”
Mainville had long wanted to expose the students to a musical performance, but funding made it challenging. With QW4RTZ, she was able to partner with the Centre Culturel Francophone de Vancouver and share the expenses of bringing the group to perform in Richmond.
