A new partnership is looking to help French students in the region learn about nature.
The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE) has announced that starting in the fall, it is teaming up with Little Ray’s Nature Centre to help students understand the importance of wildlife and ecosystems.
The partnership will allow kids in Junior and Senior Kindergarten to take part in the board’s new Explor’A program.
Superintendent of Education France Goulard says the brand-new flexible format is a unique weekly learning experience that takes place in a forest or other natural setting.
“Not only will kids get to be learning in the natural environment, but they’ll also get to see what’s creeping and crawling in the forest, and get to know those animals a bit better, and in their natural habitat,” Goulard said.
Little Ray’s is Canada’s largest animal rescue, with one of the most extensive animal education and outreach programs in North America.
Locally, the partnership will see nature programs brought to Kemptville’s Notre-Dame Catholic Academy, Merrickville’s Sainte-Marguerite-Bourgeoys Catholic School, and Brockville’s Ange Gabriel Catholic Academy.
Meanwhile, students from JK to Grade 6 in the CECCE’s Virtual Learning Academy (AAV), as well as the Virtual Personalized Teaching Centre (CEPV) will also take part in online experiences hosted by Little Ray’s and featuring animals from around the world.
Goulard says by implementing these options, they are bringing textbooks to life.
“We’re not just reading about what a turtle eats and what it looks like, but actually seeing it move, and being able to touch and feel it,” Goulard said. “It just makes that learning way more authentic and long lasting and that’s what we’re hoping it will do for our students.”
The CECCE is the first francophone school board to form a partnership with Little Ray’s.
To learn more about the Explor’A program, head here.