Teaching workshops at Chambley
It was in 2016 that we started our first teaching workshops.
Once we had agreed on the idea of introducing middle-school children to our flying activity, we had to find the right contacts, because you cannot just walk into the national education system. Our way in was the Lorraine Regional Nature Park, which has links with national education.
From there, everything happened very quickly.
We submitted a file and held a first meeting to present our project. As it was already clear in our minds and our volunteers were very involved, it all fell into place very quickly.
The PNRL's educational team got us a meeting with the head of the education authority (the recteur d'académie) so that he could come and see our workshops. It was this visit that would give us our approval!
One class was chosen for our presentation in front of the recteur. I won't hide that we were a little nervous, because being passionate is one thing, but being good enough a teacher to explain things to children under the watchful eye of the recteur and his deputy is quite another...
To run these workshops there were 5 of us: one for each of the 4 groups, and I acted as "conductor" to ensure a smooth rotation between the 4 groups (it is not easy to keep enthusiasts to time), especially as it involved 4 groups, so 4 different presentations in 4 different areas...
*A quick aside to explain how it works. The pupils are split into 4 groups across the 4 workshops of the day. Each group has 1/4 of an hour to present its subject (Discovering aircraft, The conditions of a flight, Drawing inspiration from nature, and Technical models)
You can find all the details here:
The head of the park had explained that the recteur would only stay for about an hour, and I was surprised to see that he showed no sign of leaving... At the end of the day he came to see me and said, "Of course you have the approval, but honestly, we rarely see anything like this", and his deputy added, "Honestly, we have never seen anything like it".
I can tell you that it was our finest reward.
Since then our workshops have followed one after another, always with the same pleasure for our team, and each time the children and teachers go away delighted.
Our workshops have changed very little. We had to bring in the new standards; during the Covid period we had to adapt, and it was our instructors who went into the schools.
As I was involved in many projects, I quickly delegated to one of my members, Jean Michel Vidal, who has run these workshops masterfully. Our team has grown stronger and new instructors are joining it.
To date, more than 2500 pupils have been through our workshops, and bookings for 2024 are already under way.
If you would also like to start a project of this kind, we will be delighted to share our experience and our materials with you. I can assure you that it is very rewarding for those who get involved in this kind of activity. And remember that as soon as you are passionate, you quickly become fascinating. The children's interest during our workshops is living proof of it.
