CPF Magazine Fall 2020 Issue

CPF BRANCHES
A Summer to Remember
CPF SASKATCHEWAN Virtual French Summer Camp Attracts International Audience
BY KAREN POZNIAK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CPF SK BRANCH
W
hen the COVID-19 pandemic
hit the globe, one immediate
professional impact was the need
for organizations to evaluate if programs
and activities could still be offered. Everyone
was forced to stop and think... and then,
to reinvent themselves. As the saying goes,
"necessity is the mother of invention".
Normally, Canadian Parents for French –
Saskatchewan (CPF SK) would have held
its popular Fête du soleil summer camp in
locations around the province for students
entering kindergarten to grade 5.
Because the in-person camp could no
longer happen, the Virtual Fête du soleil -
Fun at Home! concept was created. The idea
was to provide an online camp, but it would
take the form of a television-like program.
Think Sesame Street and Mr. Dressup. The
motivator was threefold: to keep as much
normalcy as possible for children in this most
unusual and unprecedented time – to still
offer a program that was very familiar and
loved; to provide an opportunity for children
to continue learning and practicing their
French language skills over the summer,
as well as create a resource that could be
used into the school year and beyond; and
finally, to deliver meaningful employment
to the four university students who would
be needed to carry out this ambitious
programming plan.
Melissa Longworth returned as the
Branch's Lead Bilingual Monitor. Joining her
were Nicole Gerber, Emily Rieder and Sierra
Kalthoff. They started Virtual Fête du soleil
- Fun at Home! by creating a theme song,
which had already been pre-developed last
summer during the Saskatoon camp – on
a bus ride home from an excursion while
singing French songs with the day campers.
Last year's jingle was further expanded and
was then used to introduce each of this
year's episodes. Next, the Monitors worked
hard to develop 35 themes to cover the
seven week time period allocated for the
virtual summer camp to take place.
Together the Monitors filmed 21 one
hour episodes, uploaded to YouTube, and
developed 14 "do-it-yourself" activity guides,
posted to the CPF SK website. At the beginning,
this was a brand new experience for them
as they were unfamiliar with the filming
process. With time, they gained familiarity and
expertise and produced great quality videos,
even using tools like the green screen.
In following pandemic protocols, the
Monitors needed to creatively provide
activities that could be done while
maintaining social distancing. For example,
with tag games, they used long objects such
as pool noodles to be physically distanced.
They also utilized different locations such as
parks, playgrounds and houses to provide
the needed space, as well as generate visual
variety for the viewers.
On behalf of the Monitors,
Ms. Longworth said, "We are incredibly
grateful to be a part of this summer project
that allowed kids to feel like they could still
attend Fête du soleil camp. We wanted them
to have as much fun watching these videos
as we did in making them. We also wanted
children to recognize that French can be
learned in a fun environment from home.
During the course of the summer, our videos
only got better, and we hope that they will
continue to be enjoyed by families to come."
Of the many themes created, four of their
favourites included Quarantine Olympics,
Pirates, Camping, and Day at the Beach.
By the end of August, more than
2,000 families had already participated
in the Virtual Fête du soleil - Fun at
Home! Program. These high numbers
clearly demonstrate that the virtual camp
served the purpose it set out to achieve.
Engagement came from households in
Saskatchewan and all across Canada, as
well as in the United States and in Europe.
Thank you Melissa, Nicole, Emily, and Sierra
for a job so well done!
Much gratitude must also go out
to Brooklyn Barré, CPF SK's Admin &
Communications Officer, for her massive
contribution over the summer. She cut film
clips, added titles and music, assembled and
posted activity guides for every theme,
and promoted each video and activity on
social media.
When asked to describe her experience
over the summer, Ms. Barré said, "In editing
the videos, it was cool to watch all the
crafts, games, cooking activities, and science
experiments that couldn’t necessarily be easily
done in the face-to-face format of camp.
I hope that these videos and themes
show children that learning French is fun
and that they can use French at home and
maybe even teach their parents a few words
that they learned in the videos."
Moving forward, the videos and "do-ityourself"
guides will remain available on the
Branch's website sk.cpf.ca. We sincerely
hope that Virtual Fête du soleil - Fun at
Home! will continue to be used by children
learning French and that this free resource
will continue to provide immeasurable value
and enjoyment to all who access it. It is our
gift to you! n
6 CPF MAGAZINE FALL 2020