MontrealAlouettes.com
MONTREAL – Before the Alouettes take part in the Together at School with CN and the Alouettes program each year, they prepare the only way they know how: by hitting the books themselves.
Before kicking off a program which will once again see players visit over 120 schools across Quebec this year, each of the 13 players taking part in the program cannot be a part of it without first undergoing four days of intensive training at CN Headquarters every January.
“The training we do gives us the foundation or structure for how to tell our story and show how our career paths went through school,” explained centre Luc Brodeur-Jourdain of the 32 hours the players put in over four days. “The professionals we learn from also provide us with ways to break the ice and better connect with the children we meet. I find these sessions super useful.”
In addition to program rookies Wopamo Osaisai, Michael Carter, Sean Whyte, Ameet Pall and Patrick Lavoie joining the fray, also new to the training sessions this year is a French language component. Built into the Together at School with CN and the Alouettes “curriculum” as of 2013 are sessions where French-speaking players team up with instructors to help their English-speaking teammates improve their French in order to help them better interact with the children they meet.
With just over half the TAS team being non-French-speaking, the question becomes which of them has turned the most heads in their new language?
“I’ve got to say Ameet Pall. He really impressed me during our French sessions,” revealed Brodeur-Jourdain of the first-year program member. “He was really articulate especially for a guy who did all of his school here in Montreal in English before going to University in the States. The quality of his French is quite strong. He did great.”
For every overachieving student there is the one who tries to keep things light in the classroom. The always affable John Bowman may be definite class clown material, but the seven-year school program veteran was quick to point someone else out on the class-comedy front.
“If you ask me, the class clown for our training this year was Sean Whyte,” revealed Bowman who was all too eager to sell-out his kicker. “He’s never serious, but I think he may get a little nervous when he gets in front of the kids for the first time, though.”
The wily Bowman may be onto something.
“I’m a pretty shy person. I can kick a ball in front of a bunch of people but it’s a whole other story for me when I have to speak in front of people,” admitted Whyte. “I just thought I would give it a chance. It’s a fear I want to conquer and at the same time I will get to learn about myself and it’s a great opportunity to give back to the community.”
The Together at School with CN and the Alouettes program will officially kick off on February 11 with a launch event at l’École St-Henri as part of Hooked on School Days, a province-wide initiative to encourage kids to stay in school.
