FÉEP Education Innovation Prize: unveiling of the winners

Pedagogical innovation in high school

Sherbrooke Seminar - #suiveznostraces

The foundation of this pedagogical approach is based on a partnership between the school and various organizations active in the community. Students then become agents of positive change within organizations and the experience offered by the teacher allows them to live an active pedagogy bringing added value to the organization in which they operate. This external influence, well beyond the promotional benefits for the school, becomes a tangible source of appreciation for the students.

Support for students with special challenges

Charles-Lemoyne College - Exam preparation workshop

In order to meet the needs of a certain number of students with special needs and to support students who experience anxiety during exam periods, Collège Charles-Lemoyne, a high school located on the South Shore of Montreal, set up an exam preparation workshop. The workshop consists of two parts, therefore two group meetings. It was built in anticipation of the mid-year exam session. The meetings took place before the start of the lessons and were placed at an interval of approximately two weeks, to allow the pupils to complete part of the preparation documents between the 1st and the 2nd part.

The project has been so successful that it will be offered on a larger scale in the coming years.

Architecture, planning and preservation of the built heritage

Externat Sacré-Cœur - Expansion and major redevelopment of the premises

The increase in the number of pupils necessitated new premises. After extensive consultation with school staff to properly define the needs, it was decided to build a new pavilion that harmonizes with the old building, built in 1957.

With these new premises, the atmosphere of the school has changed. The students now have their own living spaces and they make them their own at all times. Whenever possible, they settle there to spend time with friends, to read, to work or to hold activities. The challenge of having a library well present in the community has been taken up; the place is very popular with students. Many come there simply to read, to the great pleasure of the teachers! The chapel transformed into a multifunctional room is now widely used. The new furniture makes it possible to quickly modify the configuration of the room and thus meet the needs expressed by the environment. Traffic is much smoother and young people always benefit from great light, wherever they are.

Health and healthy lifestyles

Vision Québec Nord Trilingual School - Grow into the best version of yourself

The Vision Québec Nord Trilingual School shares sports facilities with a high school. This sometimes creates schedule conflicts and limits the possibilities. The physical education teacher therefore chose to take her class outside as much with the kindergarten children she sees five hours a week as with the older ones in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade whom she sees three. hours per week. Depending on the season, she adjusts the sports to maximize the potential and the offer of the field.

Winter opens the door to sliding sports (skating, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, sliding marathon). Summer favors water and endurance sports (swimming, cycling, running, skateboarding, etc.). To work on cooperation, team sports also have their place (outdoor boot hockey, basketball, ultimate frisbee, soccer, baseball, etc.). Since the sports practiced sometimes go beyond the traditional, two major events are organized (winter: pentathlon, summer: triathlon) allowing each child to set personal goals. Since there is no such thing as a bad weather just poorly dressed athletes, the children have learned to organize the many changes of clothes.

The School team has found that since children regularly get plenty of sun and fresh air and can oxygenate their brains, they are more willing and receptive to learning in the classroom.

Promotion of the language and culture of Quebec (2 winners tied)

Collège Regina Assumpta - Committee for the promotion of the French language

As is the case in many schools in Montreal, Collège Regina Assumpta welcomes a majority of students for whom French is not their mother tongue. The French language promotion committee was created in 2015. Its primary mission is to publicize the language policy of the College as well as to promote French culture through concrete actions and fun activities. This committee, made up of staff members and students from Secondary 1 to 5, was set up to ensure the proper use of French in the daily life of the College. After consulting the students, activities were organized throughout the year, including, among other things, a sleepless night at the library and the dissemination of capsules on the use of French in the world of work.

The participation rate in the various activities demonstrates the students' enthusiasm for the French language. The most surprising thing is that the students who participate are not the ones with the best marks in French nor those who speak French at home. The impact of this project has breathed new life into the French language and culture at the College.

Notre-Dame de Sion Bilingual School - EBNDS 375

Located in Saint-Laurent, a multicultural district of Montreal, this school decided to take advantage of Montreal's 375th anniversary, its activities and festivities to pique the curiosity of children and lead them to lead their families to visit the points of interest of the city, to give more meaning to the knowledge acquired with their teachers and, why not, to make them good ambassadors of our city!

Thanks to the support of its community and the commitment of volunteers, the School organized various activities throughout the year to introduce its students to the history and multiple facets of Montreal.

Promotion of student entrepreneurship

Notre-Dame College - Miscellaneous Garden

Jardin Divers is a project for which the students of Notre-Dame College are responsible, since they take care of the plants, the management of schedules as well as the production calendar. It is the students who make the decisions regarding the proper functioning of the project. This allows them to fully engage in it, to take responsibility and to familiarize themselves with the world of entrepreneurship.

Also, Jardin Divers responds to a demand for organic and local products. The fertilizers used are organic and all interventions are made with respect for nature. In addition, Jardin Divers defines itself as a local producer. Indeed, he donates part of his production to the voluntary organization MultiCaf, a food bank in the Côte-des-Neiges district. This organization provides meals at very low prices to underprivileged families in the community. In doing so, young people help fight food insecurity in their neighborhood. The other products are sold to students, their parents, teachers and the school cafeteria. Thus, the project encourages the community to eat in a healthier way, to discover new products and to obtain local foods.

Sustainable development

Anjou College - Zero Carbon Project

When the College took part in the Carbure à l'énergie 2012-2013 competition, the students carried out a major energy efficiency awareness campaign and proposed as a sustainable environmental project a series of means to make the College CARBON NEUTRAL. They named this set of recommendations ZERO CARBON PROJECT. Over the past five years, various initiatives have been adopted. Here are a few examples:

• To offset the CO2 emissions produced by the students' trips, they sow several hundred red oaks per year, which they distribute to be replanted.
• The College was the first private school in Quebec to have an industrial composter. Students are heavily involved in sorting to separate recyclable, compostable and waste materials.
• Students build water tank bins and grow flowers, herbs and vegetables inside the classroom, which they sell in early May. An annual sale of shoots is organized and the school's compost is also distributed there and the sums of money raised are dedicated to the Zero Carbon project to ensure its sustainability.

Jury's Favorite Prize

Vanguard School - Sowing the Future

Vanguard School welcomes students with learning disabilities. When the School moved to its new campus in Saint-Laurent, it found itself in an area devoid of parks and gardens. The students then expressed the wish to create a vegetable garden to encourage young people to eat locally and healthily by showing them that it is possible to make a garden anywhere.

The school procured a greenhouse which was installed behind the school. The team researched easy-to-grow herbal teas, lettuces and herbs, and then installed a rainwater harvesting barrel next to the greenhouse. Once a week, the students harvested and donated the fresh produce to community kitchens. In 2016, the greenhouse became temporarily inaccessible due to renovations to the school. A science teacher took over with a hydroponic “vegetable garden” project, set up in her classroom. The students grow tomatoes and herbs there, which they sometimes eat together.

The Vanguard School has become a member of the Jane Goodall Institute's network of schools, and the committee has chosen to contact the Zanner Institute, a school in Congo which is also trying to "revive" the ground around their school. Young people from both countries exchange tips and tricks for greening projects.

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FEEP would like to thank all the establishments that participated in this first edition of the Innovation Awards. The various innovative projects presented as part of this initiative will be available on the Federation's new website, which will be put online during the summer.