Exchange program unites Jasper with Amqui

Parlez-vous francais? For students taking Grade 9 French, the answer is, oui! 

Students from Ashley Morden’s French class took part in Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada’s (SEVEC) home-stay exchange program that saw her students spend a week immersing themselves in the French language and culture in Amqui, QC, last month. 

The SEVEC program is a national charity, more than 70 years old, and is responsible for providing unique experiential learning opportunities for over 300,000 12 to 17 year-old students since its inception. 

Last week, students from Amqui were reunited with their Jasper friends for five days full of activities in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. 

Seventy-five Grade 9 students descended on the Palisades Stewardship Education Centre on Thursday, May 21, learning about the unique nature of Jasper and the national park. In addition to participating in predator-prey simulations and practicing their GPS navigation skills, students from Jasper made French presentations to their friends from Amqui, on what it’s like to live in the park today. 

Although some students were more comfortable speaking French than others, all the students seemed eager to practise their bilingual skills, chuckle a bit and generally have a good time teaching their pals from Quebec a bit about the park.  

Students were spread across six groups covering the back field at the Palisades and rotated through stations learning about climate change, wildlife, such as prairie dogs and owls, the Athabasca River, David Thompson and poaching. 

The exchange activities were co-curricular; they linked back to things in class, explained Morden and Barb Schmidt, are who assisted in planning the cross-country exchange program. Morden hopes that programs like this will encourage kids to stick with French in the long-run. 

The SEVEC home-stay exchange program endeavours to impart upon youth an understanding of the different cultures that are spread across our country. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our Grade 9 French students in particular to expand their language skills and learn about the culture they’ve been studying for years,” said Principal Mark Crozier. “I think it brings it to real life,” he added. 

Crozier was also very pleased to see two of his teachers take such initiative in developing this program in Jasper, especially given that it is Morden’s first year behind the teacher’s desk. “Both of them put in countless extra hours. So it’s a great opportunity in the end that these students were given really due to the dedication of these teachers,” said Crozier. “It’s exciting to see teachers trying to provide these opportunities,” he said. 

Crozier also pointed out, somewhat jokingly but sincerely, that he overheard students saying that they were now going to text message to their Quebec pals in French to practice their language skills.