Teacher Rick Lucas dishes out La Tire to some Grade 7 students during École St. Thomas Carnaval events. Jeannette Benoit-Leipert Meridian Source
This week students at École St. Thomas enjoyed an array of fun activities while learning about French culture.
For Grade 6 student Lincoln Joy, it’s become something he looks forward to each year since his first Carnaval in Kindergarten.
“We do this thing where you go rolling down with scooters and you hit like pins, and that’s really fun,” said Joy.
“Also, I just tried bannock for the first time today, with butter and jam. That was really good.”
Principal Chantale Salt says Carnaval can be tricky sometimes, due to the weather, but this year things are going well.
“The weather has definitely been a challenge and this year we were actually worried we wouldn’t even have enough snow to do La Tire, luckily we got snow in the nick of time,” said Salt.
“We’re actually very fortunate this year, with the weather being so mild that the students can enjoy the outdoors. This year is just right.”
La Tire is a dollop of maple syrup, served over snow, like a maple syrup popsicle.
“The favourite thing from year to year is La Tire. That is an all-time favourite. It is a nice, sweet treat and every student looks forward to it,” said Salt.
Cooking bannock was another student-favourite at Carnaval this year. That activity was led by Cynthia and Mike Young.
There are other presentations and workshops happening throughout the week as well.
“One of them is La Troupe du Jour, they are doing some acting workshops with students, acting and improvisation,” said Young.
“And then we have The Great Balanzo who will be doing workshops and circus performances, juggling acts and those kinds of things, with our Grade 5 to 7s.”
There are indoor and outdoor activities going on all week to help keep the French culture alive and well within the school.
“It is a celebration of French language and French culture. It’s a tradition that began in Quebec many many years ago, and we celebrate it over here to help promote that language and culture with our students,” said Salt.
