A group of about 75 kids and their parents sat in the Catholic Church Parish Hall, May 30, after finishing a massive potluck dinner. They watched a projector screen, where pictures of the last week flashed by, while Les Trois Accords鈥� famous French tune 鈥淪askatchewan鈥� played in the background.
One image featured a student scrunching up her face as she drank from a plastic cup, another a group of young boys mugging for the camera. And another showed smiling teens with their arms around each other鈥檚 shoulders posing in front of a mountain.
As the images flashed by, the students crowded at the front of the room alternated between groans of laughter and shrieks of recognition.
鈥淪ASKATCHEWAN,鈥� a pack of guys wailed, as the song鈥檚 iconic chorus blared from the speakers.
The students were part of the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges (SEVEC) program, and they were in the final hours of a week of adventure.
Last February, 21 students from Jasper Junior/Senior High School travelled to Quebec, and stayed for a week with students from Coll猫ge Dina-B茅langer鈥攁 Catholic school in Saint Michelle de Bellechasse, Quebec.
May 24鈥�31 their hosts came to Alberta, where students and parents from Jasper took them on a whirlwind tour of the park.
Fred Kriener, the vice principal of the high school, is the driving force behind the program in Jasper. Before the May 20 dinner, he gave a rundown of all the activities the students had done during the past week. One day they hiked Sulphur Skyline, another Old Fort Point. They also spent a day at the Palisades Stewardship Education Centre canoeing and learning about wildlife.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been so active that some of the Quebec kids were really happy this morning just to get to sit in a comfortable bus,鈥� he said, referring to the group鈥檚 trip to the Columbia Icefield earlier that day.
SEVEC is a not-for-profit organization, supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage, that facilitates educational exchanges within Canada. According to its website, the organization aims to 鈥渂uild bridges between young Canadians, and provide them with the opportunity to learn about their country by seeing and experiencing its history, geography, and cultural diversity.鈥�
Bentley Fawcett and F茅lix-Antoine Pelletier are two of the students who did the exchange this year. Fawcett lived with Pelletier in Quebec for a week in February, and last week hosted him in Jasper.
Reflecting on his experience in SEVEC, Pelletier spoke in slightly broken English. He gushed about how much he got to do over the past week鈥攖hings he could have only experienced with the help of a guide like Fawcett.
鈥淚 was coming in the past to Jasper, and I see...鈥� he trailed off, turning to Fawcett and asking a few questions in French.
鈥淥ne third,鈥� Fawcett chimed in.
鈥淵es, one third of Jasper, but with this trip I think I saw the whole thing.鈥�
Aside from the cultural exchange, a big focus for many students who go on SEVEC exchanges is improving language skills. Both Fawcett and Pelletier said one of the main reasons they signed up for the exchange was to improve their second language skills, and both said they learned a ton, even in the two short weeks they spent together.
鈥淚 learned a lot of new things in French when I was in Quebec,鈥� although a lot of it isn鈥檛 appropriate for the newspaper, Fawcett admitted with a grin.
Another pair of exchange students Patricia Corrivea and Crimson Dervowka, had similar reasons.
鈥淵ou do just so many activities, it鈥檚 just jam-packed, but you learn so much about it, it鈥檚 amazing,鈥� Dervowka said.
Corrivea agreed, but said that the best part of the program for her, was that it helped her discover a lot about herself.
鈥淪EVEC, it鈥檚 a good way to learn about you鈥攁nd about some other people鈥攂ut a lot of you,鈥� she said.
After the slideshow, Kriener addressed the students. He told them that SEVEC is an amazing opportunity in itself, but that it has the possibility to lead into so many more. He told them how he did a similar exchange when he was in high school, and he still keeps in touch with his partner to this day.
鈥淭his can be a stepping stone to other things, and broadening your horizons. And it can be something that changes your life, if you choose to make it that,鈥� he said.
Trevor Nichols
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