Students celebrate the culture of the Carnival

"Oui, oui,” said the students at Ecole Gron Morgan on Thursday, when asked if they were enjoying their Carnival experience.

And why not, when learning about another culture is made fun.

From snow golf to snowshoeing, from relay races to painted faces and a culminating floor hockey game in the school gymnasium, the students in both French immersion and English stream students had a blast getting to know each other on a chilly Thunder Bay afternoon.
 
Nicholas Randall, a Grade 5 student at the Marlborough Street school, said the ideal of a Carnival in Thunder Bay was a great one, for a variety of reasons.
 
The best part, he said, is the fusion of multiple cultures under one roof.

“I think it’s important so everybody can realize what other kinds of traditions are going on around the world and our country,” said Nicholas, a French immersion student at the school.

His favourite activity? Like any good red-blooded Canadian boy, he chose hockey.
 
“It’s kind of a sport that’s really agreeable. Everybody likes it. It’s a team sport and it’s really fun,” he said.

Ten-year-old Ashley Morin, and English language student, liked everything about the Carnival, which was organized by teachers and staff at the school, and helped with the assistance of Grade 5 and 6 students, who supervised the younger children at play.

“It’s fun to have a fun day at school and I really like it. You get to do all kinds of stuff instead of doing your math,” Ashley said. “You get to learn about French and you can get more experience with French.”

Carnival dates back centuries, and traditionally has been tied to the Lenten season, the six weeks before Easter.

In Quebec and the rest of the New World, it was a way of celebrating the return of a community’s men, most of whom spent the winter months logging far from their homesteads.

While most people don’t spend winters in the woods, the Carnival tradition remains to this day, says Ecole Gron Morgan teacher Suzanne Huot.

Like Native pow wows that showcase First Nations culture, Carnival is a way for the French to put their heritage in the spotlight.

“Every culture is unique and if we’re going to be working together, we need to understand each other,” said Huot, who originally hails from Cochrane, Ont.

The games, like outdoor golf, are as much about teamwork and learning as anything else, she said.

“I think you cannot learn if you’re not having fun,” she said. “If learning is not a pleasure, then learning is a task. And you don’t want it to be a task. You want it to be as pleasurable for everybody to enjoy.”

The afternoon also saw a visit from Echo, the Ontario Special Olympics Winter Games mascot, who helped present the school with a plaque thanking them for raising $2,000 to sponsor four athletes at last month’s event.