Alex Hope celebrates Le Réveillon

December 12, 2016

Students in Mme Inoue’s grade 7 Late French Immersion class hosted their tenth annual Réveillon celebration to mark the holiday season. Supported by a team of dedicated parent volunteers and former student helper Mr. Riley, honoured guests and students were treated to a delicious soupe à l’amitié (friendship soup), traditional tourtière (meat pie) and bûche de Noël (log-shaped cake) for dessert.

Réveillon is celebrated in many parts of the French-speaking world and gets its name from the verb reveiller (to wake up).  This is a reference to the fact that French Catholics traditionally attended midnight mass in large numbers, and looked forward to a special family meal. In some communities, there’s also a Réveillon on New Year’s Eve to celebrate with friends.

Each grade 6 and 7 Immersion class enthusiastically performed a traditional song to entertain classmates in the beautifully decorated gym. Mme Malcolm’s class sang a Canadian version of The Twelve Days of Christmas that was particulalry creative, and Mme Bornowsky was asked to join Mme Arora’s class to sing with them. Mme Robb’s class also performed a bilingual French and Spanish version of Feliz Navidad.