Laughter rang out at the Wawota Catholic Church as 21 youth ranging in age from three-years-old to 14-years-old enjoyed the second annual Fête du Soleil.
Monique Myers, French teacher at Wawota School, joined the program Canadian Parents for French (CPF) last year to encourage French learning outside of the classroom. The Fête du Soleil, or French summer camp, had been held last year with only nine youth attending, so Myers was extremely pleased by the turnout this year.
Not only were there many youth interested in the summer fun, but it was all for free. Usually the camp is $25 each day, however, CPF had become aware of the many trials in the community and the togetherness showed in fundraising for those affected.
"They thought the kids needed a break and to have a little fun in the sun," Myers explained. "This was their way of donating and supporting the local community."
The four program coordinators who worked with the youth were pleased to be in a small town teaching, as most other CPF programs are in larger centres.
"All the kids here are great!" exclaimed Michelle Gulka, a third year program coordinator. "They're all so close together and there's others from outside of Wawota here, but they're all working together and helping each other. I love this community."
Through crafts, games, activities, and cooking the coordinators promote French language and teach youth new vocabulary, showing them that learning a second language is fun and beneficial.
"It's really good for the kids to be exposed to French outside of the classroom and this is a fun way to do it," Gulka said.
The camp was not only entertaining and educational for the youth, but has been a memorable experience for each of the coordinators as well who travel from town to town putting on the Fête du Soleil camps across the province.
"It's been a lot of fun," Brooke Malinoski explained. "There's different levels of French everywhere we go and it's neat to see how the kids pick up new words and vocabulary."
"It's rewarding to see how much they pick up and how fast."
The camp was held for four days, between July 9 and 12, attracting youth from Wawota, Langbank, Kenosee, and even one as far as Québec.
"I think it's important to maintain a second language in our community whether it is within the school or through extracurricular activities," Myers stated. "And the support from parents and the school has been wonderful."
Myers explains that the last year has been very rewarding as a teacher seeing youth embrace different French initiatives in the community and area. One of these initiatives was Daycare Buddies, which saw young French students attend the daycare in Wawota twice a week to teach the French language.
