Spiritual Life and Community Involvement Animators from des Échos, Cité-des-Jeunes and Chêne-Bleu high schools got together for a photo shoot in November at the Cité-des-Jeunes grand théâtre, in preparation for a commemorative exhibition (Polytechnique). Neomedia met Marie-Belle Ouellet, spiritual life and community involvement animator at Chêne-Bleu high school, whose exhibition was launched on January 31.

This joint project was spearheaded by the three spiritual life and community involvement animators from the 3 schools: Marie-Belle Ouellet, Caroline Grenier (from des Échos) and Jean-François Légaré.

This joint project was spearheaded by the three spiritual life and community involvement animators from the 3 schools: Marie-Belle Ouellet, Caroline Grenier (from des Échos) and Jean-François Légaré.

The idea for the exhibition originally came from the Polytechnique student association, which continues to promote these 14 exceptional pioneers. "It was Cité-des-Jeunes animator Jean-Francois Légaré who brought up the idea of doing the same for us, and the other two schools followed suit," explains Marie-Belle, who organized the exhibition at Le Chêne-Bleu through her Aime ton prochain committee.

At Chêne-Bleu

Here's the basic idea behind the exhibition, says the organizer: "Each photo of the 14 Chêne-Bleu students and women bears the name of a Polytechnique victim. Beneath the photo is a portrait of the student-victim and a description of her, her projects, her life and what she meant to her community. These are 14 moving stories of lives cut short in the midst of growth, 14 people who would have contributed to the world and could have changed it," says Ms. Ouellet.

The aim of this photographic project is both to pay tribute to the 14 victims of the Polytechnique tragedy of December 6, 1989, and to raise young people's awareness of the importance of equality between men and women. It's possible to visit during school hours, avoiding of course the end of classes around 4 pm. You can go through the secretariat.

Marie-Belle Ouellet explains: "I'd like to get it out of the school, possibly next year, for example, for the 35th anniversary of the commemoration of the tragedy. I'm going to work towards giving these portraits a second life, in a museum, or via the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC," hopes the Chêne-Bleu animator.

The exhibition of the 14 Chêne-Bleu portraits officially opened on January 31 and will continue for a few weeks. It is installed in the corridor, just past the cafeteria.

Launches will take place this week at the other two high schools, des Échos and Cité-des-Jeunes.

The Chêne-Bleu project was carried out in partnership with Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols, adds Ms. Ouellet. Ms. Ouellet would also like to thank the Polytechnique student association and especially its president, Loïc Goyette.

Here are the names of the Chêne-Bleu students and women who took part in the photo shoot and exhibition:

Gabrielle Pilon-Chicoine, student - portrait 1

Chantal Guillemette, science teacher - portrait 2

Rosanne Belisle, student - portrait 3

Sophie Daoust, former teacher - portrait 4

Delphine Norbert, student - portrait 5

Alexandra Lacerte, student - portrait 6

Alixe Gauthier, student - portrait 7

Dominique Clavet-Malet, Polytechnique professor - portrait 8

Catherine Tessier, science teacher - portrait 9

Zoë Freike, student - portrait 10

Sarah Duchesneau, student - portrait 11

Chloé Taillefer, student - portrait 12

Marie-Belle Ouellet, animator and poet - portrait 13

Éloïse Lefebvre, student - portrait 14

Here are the names of the 14 women who were victims at École Polytechnique

Geneviève Bergeron, 21, Mechanical engineering student

Hélène Colgan, 23, Mechanical engineering student

Nathalie Croteau, 23, Mechanical engineering student

Barbara Daigneault, age 22, Mechanical engineering student

Anne-Marie Edward, 21, Chemical Engineering student

Maud Haviernick, 29, Metallurgical Engineering student

Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31, Nursing student

Maryse Laganière, age 25, Finance Department employee

Maryse Leclair, 23, Metallurgical Engineering student

Anne-Marie Lemay, 22, Mechanical Engineering student

Sonia Pelletier, 28, Mechanical Engineering student

Michèle Richard, age 21, Metallurgical Engineering student

Annie St-Arneault, 23, Mechanical Engineering student

Annie Turcotte, 20, Metallurgical Engineering student

"We are not them, but we are certainly made of them" - quote from Catherine Bergeron, President of the Polytechnique Memory Committee.