The annual photography exhibition to close out this year’s LOVE Project at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School took place on May 13.
Students in the alternative program and the work-oriented training path (WOTP) worked once again with the Montreal-based non-profit LOVE (Leave Out Violence Everywhere), in collaboration with the Montérégie-West Community Network, on a series of media-arts and leadership-themed sessions aimed at strengthening interpersonal skills and emotional regulation.
“This program was our pilot for online programs, and what we have come to see is that in-person experiences have reinforced our connection and what we are doing here,” says LOVE’s executive director, Robyn Dalton. “It is really neat how it has fostered relationships between the students,” she continued, noting that her co-director of programs, Cedric Joseph, has visited the school in person monthly.
“I have been learning a lot from the program. I loved how everyone was treating each other with respect,” said WOTP student Christopher Paulin, who hopes to participate again next year.
Alternative program teacher Victoria Starnino said the year went very well, noting the students were able to work more often with cameras and learned new ways to express themselves. She explained that each student chose a photograph to display during the exhibition, while noting that the program is about much more than photography. “It’s nice to have that connection in the room with someone outside of the teachers they see every day.”
The LOVE project has expanded to work with 650 students this year in 28 different organizations and schools, including Howard S. Billings High School in Chateauguay. (SR)