The only high school in the Centre-Val de Loire region to participate in the International Youth Games, from May 27 to June 2, in Athens, Greece, the Hanches high school is presenting six students. They have been preparing for it since the end of October, with their physical education and sports teachers.
Enthusiasm, motivation and preparation. This is what characterizes the state of mind of the six students from the Joséphine-Baker high school in Hanches, who will take part from today until June 2 in the International Youth Games (JIJ), in Athens, in Greece.
They will experience this stay in the former Olympic village of the 2004 Olympic Games. “It’s exceptional for the first year of high school,” emphasizes Franck Godard, physical and sports education (PE) teacher. “It launches, in a way, the dynamic around sport that we want to establish with, next year, our sport option. »
The students themselves worked to finance this trip. “They found sponsors and partnerships with local authorities and private companies,” explains the professor. The Hanchois high school application was accepted in the fall.
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A reward for the students
“Since then, we have had to juggle the competitions of the high school sports association with the National Union of School Sports (UNSS). Our students won two departmental cups in run & bike and orienteering,” emphasizes Dominique Rivière, also a PE teacher.
It’s a real chance, we still don’t realize
“The six students selected for the trip to Athens are those who were both the most diligent and the most deserving. It’s a reward for them, even if many high school students were motivated by this project,” he explains.
On the Écluzelles pond, near Dreux, the four first year students and the two second year students trained in kayaks. The objective: to find the best pairs. “They have to coordinate over different distances and different situations,” describes Franck Godard.
Inauguration of the Joséphine-Baker establishment, in Hanches: “Everything in this high school is focused on the future”
In the cradle of Olympics
Joséphine-Baker’s high school students and their teachers arrived in Athens.
After their warm-up, Zoé, Charlotte, Adrien, Clémence, Samuel and Clément test themselves over short distances. Then quickly, the pairs change. And the distances are getting longer: 200 m, 500 m, and they will repeat this for part of the afternoon. Next comes a more perilous exercise when it comes to changing positions inside the kayak on the water. “This is part of the rules of the race in which they will participate,” explains the PE teacher.
Despite a few acrobatics and falls into the water, the high school students do not lose their enthusiasm. For this activity, among the ten disciplines in which they will participate, the teenagers will have the honor of sailing on the Olympic water, which was used for rowing.
“It’s a real chance, we still don’t realize it,” rejoices Charlotte, first grade student. “Many comrades would have liked to come. Most of the JIJ took place in France. And we, the same year as the Paris Olympics, we are going to Athens, to the cradle of Olympism. It’s as if we’re doing like the greats, even if we’re not at their level. »
Jean-Pierre Ruaut, mayor of Hanches, inaugurated a gentle path between the center of Epernon and the high school
Historical visits
For her part, Clémence, also a junior, cannot hide her eagerness to explore the city. “The orienteering in the old city of Athens will allow us to discover incredible places. »
The opening ceremony will take place in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens where the first Games of the modern era took place in 1896. The closing ceremony will take place in the Olympic stadium of the 2004 Olympic Games. A chance for the students, which also delights their two teachers.
“They will discover cultures and new languages with the sixty-four selected high schools. It is a beautiful symbol of the union of youth and the values of sharing that sport and education embody,” says Franck Godard. Alongside the JIJ, students will also visit the Archaeological Museum of Athens and the Acropolis.
For the Joséphine-Baker high school, it is a source of pride to have been selected for these International Youth Games (JIJ). Mathieu Léna, the principal, discusses this participation and what it implies for his establishment.
Mathieu Lena, principal, describes his high school’s participation in the JIJ.
How did this project get started ? As we are a new high school, with lots of projects, the PE teachers made this suggestion, I followed. We made an application which was submitted in November and we received the response in December. We were very happy to be selected in the first year the school opened. Sixty-four high schools were selected, from all continents. We are the only one from the Orléans-Tours academy.
What have you highlighted in this application to distinguish yourself from other applications? We presented the particularity of the establishment, our motivations, and we insisted on the personality of Joséphine Baker and her commitments. We also talked about the international openness that we want. So these Games participated in all that, in the promotion of students, in international openness, with a meeting of high school students from all over the world.
What is the profile of the selected students? For each establishment, there is a mixed delegation of six students, three boys and three girls, who are in second and first years, and who are between 15 and 17 years old. They were selected by PE teachers based on their commitment to the sports association. These are also sports profiles, because you will have to do all the activities offered by these games. Video, choreography, flashmob…
How did your students prepare these games? There were, at the same time, training on all types of activity, within the framework of the sports association, during weekends or holidays. They also made a video to present their territory, there were shots taken in symbolic places in the area. We had to show the support of the entire school for this team. The staff and students participated in the video, the second year students did a choreography, to represent all the Olympic rings for example. Teachers and staff held a flash mob.
What does organizing such a trip involve? There was a big investment from the PE teachers and the six students who mobilized to obtain financial support from communities and private companies. They created a presentation file for the project and traveled to present it themselves to the various economic and institutional stakeholders. They obtained support to finance this trip, the objective being that it cost the families nothing. All inclusive, the trip for the six students and the two teachers costs €6,000 in total.
What do you expect from your participation in these JIJ? May the students have fun, may it be an unforgettable experience for them. It’s rewarding for them, it’s the culmination of a year’s work. They will spend a week there, they arrive one day before the tests, they will do some cultural visits. May they be proud to represent our establishment, our region. We will follow them remotely and we will have a daily report. Everyone will be able to follow them via the high school website.
Thomas Desprez and Chemcha Rahbi
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