Green Team: Web Seminar with Dr. David Suzuki

Posted on November 10, 2011 by admin

David Suzuki, the prestigious and award winning environmentalist, held a web seminar this past Wednesday, on November 2. Along with his co-workers, he set up a virtual classroom where elementary and secondary schools from across North America could partake. If questions were submitted in advance, different schools could ask Dr. Suzuki their personal questions themselves via video chat.

LCC did not have the chance to submit any questions, however, several members of the Green Team, along with Ms. Scattolin and myself, had the privilege of watching. Suzuki took the time to answer approximately ten different questions. I was impressed with many of the questions that were asked and with the elaborate answers that were given in return. In particular, one student asked: “How is it possible to become an environmentalist?” Concisely, Suzuki replies that anyone can really become an environmentalist, as it is not a real profession. If you have a passion for helping the environment then it is important to pursue it along side your career, but it should not be one’s principle occupation. He then said “You should follow your heart and do what makes you happy.” This statement is very encouraging and I appreciated Dr. David Suzuki’s responses a great deal. — Jacklyn Greenspoon ’13

Green Coalition: Montreal Students Exchange Environmental Ideas at LCC

Posted on November 10, 2011 by admin

The first ever Green Coalition meeting was held on October 17, 2011. Don’t let the word “coalition” fool you, this was not an activist meeting. Environment-enthusiast students from many different schools, including Royal Vale, Bialak, ECS as well as Elena Poulakis, Kelsey Wiseman, Rebecca Torralbo, Joseph Wiltzer and myself gathered in our LCC auditorium to dialogue about our deteriorating environment.

The meeting was organized by one optimistic second year Marianopolis student, Leehi Yona, whose goal was to have us all combine our ideas and come up with new ways that we can help achieve our common objective, doing all that we can before it’s too late. Getting us, as students, involved in bettering our own future is essential. She gave us ideas such as talking to our city council representative, as she has done. She also suggested some summer internships where you can raise green awareness.

The feeling in the room was indescribable. I had no idea what to expect from this conference. Would the other students be excited, shy, engaged, involved? Everyone had the same goal and we were all keen to achieve it together. Leehi was so charismatic and got us even more motivated and ready to make a change. My personal favourite part was when all the students had a chance to mingle and exchange ways that their schools contribute to helping the environment. A couple of students from Royal Vale even complemented us on our recyclable paper!

Overall, I think everyone really enjoyed the conference and would love for it to become an annual occurrence. — Sabine Hawa ’12

Le Monde de La Francophonie

Posted on November 8, 2011 by admin

Combien d’États et gouvernements composent l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie? Combien d’habitants font partie de la Francophonie? Combien de francophones retrouve-t-on dans le monde? Combien de professeurs enseignent le français dans le monde?

La Francophonie c’est non seulement des nombres c’est une communauté mondiale qui depuis ses débuts en 1880 avec le géographe Onésime Reclus a passé à travers l’histoire avec ses associations, ses mouvements, ses alliances. C’est en 1962, grâce à Léopold Sédar Senghor, grammairien, poète et politicien que le terme Francophonie renaît. Selon Senghor « La Francophonie, c’est cet Humanisme intégral, qui se tisse autour de la terre : cette symbiose des “énergies dormantes” de tous les continents, de toutes les races, qui se réveillent à leur chaleur complémentaire ». Ensuite en 1970, l’Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) a été fondée. Elle se donne comme mission d’agir dans le respect de la diversité culturelle et linguistique, de promouvoir la langue française et la paix, d’accroître la coopération au service du développement durable.

Aujourd’hui, la Francophonie c’est un Colloque francophone sur les évolutions du français contemporain – France 2011, c’est un Forum international francophone « Jeunesse et emplois verts » Niamey – Niger 2012, c’est un Forum mondial de la langue française – Québec 2012, ce sont les VIIes Jeux de la Francophonie – France/Nice 2013, c’est le Festival « Pixelini » : création numérique et de la culture du libre en Afrique 2011, c’est le Festival international du film panafricain de Cannes 2012, c’est le Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie ainsi que le Prix du jeune écrivain de langue française et bien plus.

C’est pour cela que du 8 au 11 novembre LCC a rendez-vous avec les 75 États et gouvernements constituants la Francophonie, les 890 millions d’habitants dont 220 millions sont francophones et les 900 000 professeurs de français dans le monde pour la célébration de la Francophonie!– Mona Chidiac, Chef, Département des langues modernes

Paris Échange: La Belgique et ses chocolats…

Posted on November 4, 2011 by admin

2 novembre 2011

Après mon retour de Venise, j’ai dormi immédiatement parce que le lendemain, nous sommes allés chez les grands-parents de Gwen dans une petite ville qui s’appelle Cholet. Cholet est une ville dans l’ouest de la France. Nous sommes restés là jusqu’au vendredi matin. C’était très amusant parce que j’ai eu la chance de rencontrer les grands-parents de Gwen, sa tante, son oncle et ses deux adorables petits cousins. J’ai aussi eu la chance de visiter le Musée d’art et d’histoire où j’ai appris beaucoup sur l’histoire de Cholet. Le vendredi matin, on est retourné à Senlis où le grand frère et la grande sœur de Gwen sont venus nous rendre visite et sont restés pour une nuit. Dimanche matin, je suis allée à Bruges pendant deux jours. Lorsque l’on est arrivé, nous sommes allés manger à la Grande Place, qui est un des principaux lieux touristiques de Bruges. Dans l’après-midi, nous avons visité le Musée Groeninge et le Musée du Chocolat. Dans le Musée Groeninge, j’ai vu les peintures célèbres de Jan Van Eyck et Gerard David. Dans le Musée du chocolat, j’ai appris l’histoire du chocolat pendant le temps des Aztèques et des Mayas. J’ai aussi appris les noms de nombreux chocolats belges. Le lendemain, nous avons fait une visite en bateau sur les célèbres canaux de Bruges ainsi, j’ai pu admirer la cathédrale de Bruges et avoir une autre vision de la ville sur l’eau. Ensuite, les parents de Gwen ont donné une heure de temps libre où Gwen et moi avons eu la chance de faire un peu de shopping. Puis, nous sommes allés dans un petit village à 15 km de Bruges qui s’appelle Knokke pour voir la magnifique plage et juste pour manger un petit repas avant de revenir en France. Hier, nous avons eu une journée tranquille pour travailler et nous détendre. Hier soir, la famille de Gwen m’a emmenée au cinéma pour voir les Aventures de Tintin et j’ai été très fière de moi parce que j’ai compris l’intégralité du film. En fin de compte, cet échange en France était une expérience incroyable et j’ai pris conscience qu’il est très important de profiter de chaque instant, car cela ne dure pas très longtemps.–Brooke Stein ’13

Duke of Edinburgh Adventurous Journey: An Aussie’s POV

Posted on November 3, 2011 by admin

November 2, 2011

Camp Nominingue was the perfect place for this four-day journey filled with hiking, canoeing and an abundance of memories. The beginning of the trip saw a night filled with star gazing and chatting around the campfire. It was agreed that the next four days would be a lovely break from the city and its demanding lifestyle. After a cold night’s sleep, rising to discover the ground covered completely in frost, the layers of clothing began to pile on. Three canoes filled with eight students singing against each other with the winner remaining unclear. Making it to the beach, we had a short hike to the top of a hill, which had a picture quality view of the lake. We later discovered that the group’s weakness manifested itself in the form of Swedish Berries and therefore an impromptu game of “ninja” was always around the corner. Returning back to ‘base’ we proceeded to sit around the campfire, pass the football and really get to know those we were sharing this experience with.

We spent the night playing an enthusiastic game of “spot,” that was nothing less than ridiculously challenging and managed to engage everyone in the student versus teacher style. From there we celebrated Victor’s 15th birthday in a classic campfire style with brownies, marshmallows and hot chocolate around the fire. By now, we had all realized that without our knowledge of “what the present time was,” how irrelevant knowing it at all really was.

Sunday morning, not too long until we would all have to venture back to Montreal, it dawned on all of us how sad leaving this experience would really be. This aside, the next activity on our agenda was hiking, where we hiked to yet another picture-perfect place. This place was different to most with its vegetation being one of a kind.

On returning, we played a whole group football game before heading out on an orienteering course. The orienteering course was difficult, but was enjoyable to say the least. By having infinite time on a skill, we developed abilities that will hopefully develop further and assist us in the future. By this time the group had managed to form a tight bond.

It was sad to realize that the trip was coming to an end, even though by this point a shower seemed pretty attractive. We continued on with a rather unappealing odour; mixed with a brilliant attitude to finish off our last night with what seemed a late bush walk, star gaze and our intense game of spotlight. As Monday came we all packed our bags filled with dirty clothes, packed up our tents, said goodbye to our beloved fire pit and cleaned up our site. We finished with a few team activities that tested our ability to communicate verbally and physically, with a race to the ultimate finish line.

I’d like to thank Mr. Weiland, Mr. Hirtle, Daniel and Ms. Wall for making the trip possible. Finally I’d also like to thank all that were on the trip for making it an extremely enjoyable and a memorable Canadian experience.– Anna Brouwers, New England School for Girls in Armidale, Australia (Anna is an exchange student spending twelve weeks with LCC )