Today is the end of the Education of the Future Festival, a four-day event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Youth Fusion organization, whose mission is to contribute to academic perseverance, employability and civic engagement of young people.
This major event was above all an opportunity for some 10,000 students from all over Quebec to share the projects carried out during the year, in class or extracurricular, in one of the 13 areas offered by Fusion Jeunesse. The organization took advantage of this large gathering to unveil its brand new program in artificial intelligence.
School perseverance is everyone's business
On Tuesday noon, a special ceremony was held to honor the main partners who believed in Youth Fusion from the start of its activities. On this occasion, Prime Minister Philippe Couillard as well as Mitch Garber, president of the cirque du soleil and spokesperson for the event, delivered speeches.
Honored to participate in a unique Festival for Quebec youth, Mitch Garber highlighted the leadership and positive impact of the work of Gabriel Bran Lopez, founding president of Fusion Jeunesse.
For his part, the Prime Minister said he was impressed by the students' determination. He also congratulated the teachers and coordinators who lead meaningful activities for their students to help them go further. He concluded by inviting the mobilization of all stakeholders: “School perseverance is the concern of the entire social fabric of Quebec! "
A vision that paid off
It is with great pride and a good dose of emotion that Gabriel Bran Lopez expressed his gratitude to all those who invest in educational success and academic perseverance: “Without you, dear meaningful adults, these projects do not exist. 'would not take place. "
In 2009, when Fusion Jeunesse was created, 150 students were involved. Ten years later, 15,000 students are reached daily by the organization's projects in fields as varied as entrepreneurship, environmental design, visual and digital arts, video game creation and the robotics.
To do this, the organization employs 240 university coordinators and mobilizes more than 20 universities, 50 businesses and 30 school boards. The model developed by Fusion Jeunesse allows the implementation of innovative experiential learning projects that create continuous links between schools and the community.
Motivating projects in the digital age
Science, technology and innovation were in the spotlight in the Festival exhibition hall. While groups of elementary and high school students proudly presented the video games they had created, others enthusiastically participated in a friendly robotics competition. The students' commitment and motivation were felt everywhere.
According to Heizel, high school project coordinator for video game creation, this is a program that encompasses many different disciplines and each student can find something that appeals to them. All young people know about video games, and the program helps demystify the creative process. She says she is happy to have been able to live this experience which allowed her to share her passion while contributing to school perseverance.
Visitors - parents and partners of Youth Fusion - were spoiled for choice among the hundreds of kiosks run by the students. Among other things, they had the chance to interact with students from three Montreal schools that participated in the pilot project in artificial intelligence… proof that the education of the future exists!
To find out more about Youth Fusion activities in schools: www.fusionjeunesse.org.
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