Airdrie’s French-immersion elementary academies – École Edwards Elementary School and A.E. Bowers Elementary School – are celebrating French Culture Week with a commemoration of all things Francophonie from around the world from March 6 to 10.
According to assistant principal of École Edwards, Veronica Hooper, the school has been celebrating French Culture Week for as long as she can remember, aligning their celebration with the traditional Quebec Carnival that is held every February.
She said Alberta recently recognized the Francophone language with an official commemoration of French Culture Week during the month of March.
“This year we changed it up a little bit, so rather than aligning it in February, we’ve also chosen to do it in March as a celebration of the language itself,” she said.
The week-long event kicked off with the Quebec tradition of Cabane à sucre, a practice of the First Nations peoples, and later the French settlers of the region who would tap maple trees for their sap.
The “sugar shack” was held at A.E. Bowers with students gathering to participate in a taffy pull and a traditional maple syrup tasting on snow held together with a popsicle stick, according to Hooper.
Accompanying the sugar tastings was French Canadian artist Monsieur André, who gave a presentation to the students on Francophone culture.
“It’s kind of a big celebratory time, so he’s going to come in and talk to the kids about some of the history of Quebec culture,” Hooper shared prior to the presentation.
She added André planned to teach the students about Ceinture Fléchée, a notable symbol of Métis culture and traditional piece of clothing, and Les Voyageurs who were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who transported furs by canoe during the fur trade.
The students will also experience traditional French music, singing, and folk dancing thanks to local artists and performers.
Later in the week, they will participate in school assemblies, cultural lessons, fun activities (including crafts and a game of all-French bingo), and the creation of a colourful ice sculpture akin to the practice in Quebec City, where Canadians create large-scale ice castles and mazes.
“We also do frozen ice castles,” Hooper shared. “[This year], we’ve had families donate their empty milk jugs, so we’re going to be using the 4 Litre milk jugs and we’re going to be building an ice castle in our learning commons.”
Hooper added each class in the elementary school was assigned to a French-speaking country and given a flag. They have been researching each country and learning about where in the world people speak French.
“We have a big map of the world that we’re posting in our school and the students in each class will come down and put their flags up and be able to learn about different cultures around the world beyond what we have in Quebec in Canada,” she explained.
Hooper said learning about Francophone culture is important as Canadians live in an increasingly global society.
“There’s actually something very empowering about language, period,” she said. “Especially in Alberta where people are primarily Anglophone, any opportunity we can take to embrace diversity and culture allows our students to have a broader understanding of how the world works around them.”
She added the French language is one of the fastest-growing languages in the world.
“English is the main dominant language, but French is quick approaching to be one of the second most dominant languages spoken in the world,” Hooper said. “It’s still growing very much as a language globally.
“There’s a lot of richness that comes with being able to speak and celebrate and share [in French culture].”
