Projects… winning!

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The prospect of competing against other kids or grabbing a prize may push some students to go the extra mile.

Robotics festival

Among the many competitions intended for pupils, the first Robotics festival which took place in Montreal this spring was a huge success. More than 1,800 young people from 67 schools took part in the various competitions where robot programming was in the spotlight. The competition is aimed at students aged 9 to 18, but younger people also exhibited their creation during the event. As part of the project, teachers were trained. Mentors and experts also gave a helping hand to the young people. Several partners, including large companies, support the project. More than one million $ have thus made it possible to finance robotics programs in schools and the organization of the festival.

At the Grand-Héron school in LaSalle, regular second and fifth year classes were paired with special education groups to program robots. “At first, the students felt incapable of building and programming robots. But they found they could do it and came out of it growing up. They have more self-confidence, notes Marie-Ève Turcotte, second-year teacher. Children are also more motivated, especially those who have adjustment difficulties. For once, they are living on success, not failure. "

Click for me

In recent years, the competition Click for me is also very popular and simpler! Both primary and secondary students are invited to participate. They must submit a proposal on the site to concretely improve a situation that concerns them, whether in their community or internationally. The proposal must include an argumentative text, a slogan and a sign and be posted on the competition site. Then the children can debate it and finally vote for their favorite proposal from the jury's selection. It all takes place online.

Collective stories

Write a story with "Amos Daragon's father" Bryan Perro? This is what the Canadian Association for French Language Education offered to young people last winter. Elementary and secondary students had to pursue stories whose introduction had been written by a well-known writer. All that is needed are computers with word processing and an Internet connection to send the document. Only one text per class is allowed. In all, the competition consisted of three writing stages and all texts were published online. Some 210 classes participated. The next edition of the competition will start in October!

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