Students and community members gathered in front of Jasper Elementary School (JES) March 2, to raise the Franco-Albertan flag to recognize the beginning of Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, a national celebration of French culture and heritage.
In most cases, flag raisings are pretty straightforward affairs, but not this time.
After politely standing to sing O Canada and listening to several speeches, students broke out into a rousing rendition of 鈥楽ur ma route,鈥� dance included.
For the uninitiated, 鈥楽ur ma route鈥� is a popular song by French-Guinean rapper, Black M. The song hit number one in France in 2014 and the students filmed a flash mob for a national contest as part of聽 Rendez-vous de la Francophonie.
鈥淭his was my dream, when I moved here, to see all these kids singing and dancing together in French,鈥� said Paulette Trottier, who teaches kindergarten at JES and emceed the ceremony.
The flag raising ceremony was one of 35 ceremonies planned to take place across the province.
As a lifelong Franco-Albertan, Trottier arrived in Jasper 35 years ago when French wasn鈥檛 offered in school.
Today two-thirds of the 220 or so students at JES and the 75 students at 脡cole Desrochers are laying down French roots.
Playing off the title of the song, which translates to 鈥渙n my way,鈥� she said a lot of the francophone community who live in Jasper come from near and far.
鈥淢ore and more community members are able to live a school, community and family life in French here in Jasper,鈥� Trottier said.
One such community member is 10-year-old Mya Charest, whose dad is French and mom is a French-speaking anglophone. She recently spent half of the school year on an exchange in Quebec.
鈥淚 was able to understand the coaches when I did sports and later it could help me get a good job, and I could do lots of travelling,鈥� she said after the ceremony.
While the francophone community may still be laying its roots, Mya and her co-presenter, 12-year-old Henry LeClerc, duly noted that the first European explorers to reach the Rockies were French.
Mayor Richard Ireland said this year鈥檚 celebrations are of even greater significance given recent world events, particularly in the United States.
鈥淭he significance [of this event] is even more apparent now because of what we see in the world around us. In this half of the continent, we have come together to celebrate our diversity and all of our culture, whereas elsewhere on this continent and around the world, we see that it鈥檚 not always the case 鈥� that people don鈥檛 gather in the spirit of welcoming and inclusiveness,鈥� said Ireland.
鈥淟et that flag speak to you and for you and let the world know that in Jasper, we celebrate the francophone community.鈥�
Craig Gilbert
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