Student’s art display helps fund African program

The art vernissage, held in the gym of St. Lazare’s Forest Hill Jr. Elementary School, included dozens of colourful and impressive art pieces that had been created by 16 classes of kindergarten to Grade 2 students, as well as several works by adult contributors which were later auctioned off during a silent auction.

The sale of adults’ works brought in $1,080, while the children’s art was for display purposes only.

Chantal St. Pierre, who has taught at Forest Hill Jr. since the school opened in 1998, spearheaded the initiative following her trip last year to Bamako, West Africa.

St. Pierre says she was so moved by the African children who live in poverty that is unheard of here yet who value education above all else.

While in Bamako, a French speaking region of Africa, St. Pierre met Mariam Touré, who ran a school program from a rented room for children in Grade 1 and Grade 5.

There were five students in the older grade level and 32 in the lower.

“The older kids have to work in their homes, so it’s hard for them to go to school after a while,” said St. Pierre, who did teach in Touré’s school while in Africa.

The program is run in a small, sparse room in a very poor area. St. Pierre says there are no school supplies such as pencils, papers, or even school books.

“You can not even begin to compare it to what we have here. There really is nothing, so it’s hard to have any sort of pedagogical program,” she noted.

All funds raised last week, as well as other donations that she will accept until she departs for Africa later this summer, will help fund the program and may help Touré realize her dream of one day owning her own school.

“She must charge a fee to parents but she wants to run her program for free,” said St. Pierre, who hopes the Forest Hill Jr. art vernissage will become a tradition at the school.

Donations to help fund the program will be accepted at Forest Hill Jr. until the end of June.