PRINCE ALBERT — It was a day to celebrate Francophone culture in the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division on Friday as Carlton Comprehensive High School’s CPAC and the surrounding grounds were used to celebrate the sixth annual French winter carnival.
This event is held in March as part of the broader celebration of the month of “La Francophonie” across North America.
Jeremie Vogt, vice-principal of Ecole Vickers and part of the organizing committee for the event, said it is a way to unite the French Immersion population in the division.
"Because we don't have any single track schools — it's all dual track — it’s just a way to unite our French immersion population together in one spot and just to get them involved in a French speaking environment and be immersed in the Francophone and French culture,” Vogt said.
The Carnaval offers an opportunity for students and staff to celebrate their bilingualism, take pride in their connection to the French language community and further strengthen their sense of belonging.
Schools in attendance included Ecole Debden, Ecole Vickers, Ecole Arthur Pechey and Carlton. Between the schools there nearly 500 students in attendance. Carlton students helped to lead the activities for elementary students.
"It's engaging our high school students that went through our elementary schools and just seeing them continue their high school studies in immersion. It's wonderful to see a lot of these high school students I've known since they've been in kindergarten,” Vogt said.
“It is nice to see the program still going strong; it’s great,” he added.
The day kicked off with an opening ceremony led by high school French Immersion students. The opening ceremony featured a speech by director of education Neil Finch, which was translated by student Alex Jacobson. Finch noted that all of his children are part of French Immersion in the division. There was also a chance to sing French songs and other activities before the groups split off to the many activities.
The activities and experiences planned include sports, crafts, games, face painting, tasting of traditional French maple taffy on snow (known as "la tire"), cultural activities such as music and dancing, sleigh rides, French crêpe making, a hot chocolate warm up station and much more.
"We have organizations coming in to put dance sessions on, (and) theatre sessions. There's science, arts, all kinds of stuff,” Vogt said.
The carnival ran from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. so that elementary students could return to their schools.
Vogt said that a lot of work goes into organizing the day. A committee of 10 to 12 begins work in September to plan for the day in March.
"We have organizations that have come from Saskatoon (and) Regina to come put on sessions here just to get all the logistics in place. Also, the school division allocated us money to be able to, and we could not put this on without them,” Vogt said.
"It's excellent because it also gives these students that sense of belonging. That they're part of something unique … It's also nice to see the elementary kids see the high school kids to be like, oh, this is what it's going to look like in 10 years.
Sending the students off to the various stations went off without a hitch in what could have been a chaotic situation.
"That's thanks to the organizing committee; everything was laid out, and everybody knew their role and where to go. It was a team effort. And then teachers also know how to manage that organized chaos,” Vogt said.
“I would just make sure to mention that this is thanks to the school division.” The event was made possible thanks to the generous support and contributions of community partners, including the Association Jeunesse Fransaskoise (AJF), La Société Canadienne-Française de Prince Albert (SCFPA), Canadian Parents for French (CPF), La Société Historique de la Saskatchewan, and the Comité Culturel Francophone de Debden.
