The evening of January 21 was an exciting one for many local schools. Caisse Desjardins du Haut-Saint-Laurent hosted an award ceremony in the LBA Agri-Culture Centre in Ormstown, with approximately 30 people in attendance. Representatives introduced the education community to the Caisse’s in-school programs, and following this, the Desjardins Foundation Prizes were distributed.
During the presentation it was stated that Desjardins has invested $32,800 in the educational community and outlined that they are committed to developing good financial habits in youth. The Caisse offers financial literacy programs to support elementary and high-school students, mainly to introduce young people to money management, saving, and opening accounts even at the elementary age. The Caisse offers videos, workshops, and educational activities that can be viewed online.
The Caisse also introduced The Project Factory, a tool to help schools raise money for projects by helping them make community links or by connecting them with partners. Also introduced was Aléa, an online game that people from ages 16 to 25 can play. This is an app where players create an avatar in alternate digital reality. The avatar makes a budget and can make financial decisions, providing the player with the opportunity to see the impact those decisions can make.
The Caisse announced that it will contribute $80,000 over three years to elementary school children with the distribution of free backpacks filled with school materials. The cost of each backpack is forty dollars.
The final presentation was of the Desjardins Foundation awards, which were awarded to eight school projects and worth a total of $20,800.
The winning schools were École Primaire Notre-Dame for Corridor Collaboratif, $3000; Howick Elementary for Loose Parts Story Studio, $300; École Secondaire Arthur-Pigeon for Comité d’Embellissement, $3000; École Secondaire Arthur-Pigeon for Les Pigeons Bricoleurs, $3000; École Primaire Montpetit for Des Enfants Heureux sur la Cour Comme en Classe!, $2500; Heritage Elementary for Cheetah Leaders in Action: Making Snacks for All, $3000; Franklin Elementary for Les Météo-Explorateurs: Découvrons Notre Climat, $3000; and Chateauguay Valley Regional High School for Les Mathé-Putticiens: le Mini-Golf du Savoire-Faire, $3000.
Another $12000 was awarded to four schools: École Secondaire Arthur-Pigeon for Achat d’Instruments d’Harmonie $3000; École Des jeunes-Riverains for Ataliers d’Éveil aux Mathématiques, $3000; Howick Elementary for Filling Bellies, Feeding Minds, $3000; and Ormstown Elementary for Outdoor Project, $3000.
Lorelei Muller, the community development agent for CVR, Franklin Elementary, and Hemmingford Elementary, was delighted with the Desjardins support. “Not only are we grateful for Desjardins’ contributions to projects at our schools, but the gathering provided an excellent opportunity for networking between staff from NFSB [New Frontiers School Board] and the [commission scolaire de la] Vallée-des-Tisserands.”