Whitehorse Elementary School celebrates 40 years of French immersion with 20-foot mural
CBC
École Whitehorse Elementary School is celebrating four decades of its French Immersion program with a new art project.
The mural, which is 20-feet high and 16-feet wide, was installed Friday on the front wall of the school facing 4th Ave.
Nathalie Parenteau, a Yukon and northern artist, is the painter behind the mural. She said she consulted 275 elementary school students to illustrate what it means to be part of the school's French immersion program.
"The design was inspired a lot from what the kids told me and showed me," she said.
The artists said the designing and brainstorming workshops took over a month.
"When I ask them what's one of the French things they like to do, they all kind of mention [a sugar shack]," Parenteau said.
Which is why she included a snowman wearing a red french voyageur cap at the bottom left corner of the mural.
The mural also depicts the Association franco-yukonnaise's flag which has mountains and gold bars, a wolf and a crow to include the First Nations of the Yukon, and three people from different ethnicities, sizes and identities so "everyone can recognize themselves," explained Parenteau.
"I also used books turning into birds. So, it's like from your experiences here, the world is yours. That's really what I want people to feel when they see it," she said.
The mural's colours also match the recently painted red-and-yellow building.
Although there are plans to relocate the school in the coming years, Parenteau said this shouldn't affect the mural as the individual panels can be taken down and transported.
Parenteau, a Montreal-born artist, said she was thrilled for the opportunity, especially as she didn't have to apply for the commission.
"It means a lot of things to me as an artist. I think people respect my work at this point in my career and life," she said.
Parenteau has also painted other murals around Whitehorse, including Rhythms of a Northern Town, installed on the exterior of the Takhini Arena.
After walking a few laps around the shop, Maria Castagna picks up a glass ornament in the form of a pink, sparkly ice cream cone and smiles widely.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham says he has much unfinished work from his first term in office, as he prepares to make his pitch to voters ahead of the 2026 election.
Moving to Canada from Singapore meant losing close social connections for Iris Akbar, but Akbar says the gift was in finding an affirming space with friends that became like family.
Women and children staying at Regina Transition House now have access to Santa’s workshop — a safe space where mothers can choose Christmas gifts for their children.
A man from Powell River, B.C., is thankful to be alive after a stranger helped him while he was choking at a restaurant during a visit to Whistler.
When it comes to Hamilton readers' favourite library books of 2025, romance and mysteries are in close competition.
From the Detroit Lions losing to Apple iPhones that spontaneously update, Windsorites had things that bugged them this year.
Calgary emergency rooms are “in a state of critical overcapacity” ahead of the anticipated peak of flu season — and to cope with the surge and wait-room crowding, officials are urging doctors to speed up their decisions on whether to admit patients, according to a memo obtained by CBC News.
Northern Ontario's highway system needs improvements in order to make travel safer, a highway safety advocate said.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.
Even before Gwen Healey Akearok began her new role as Nunavut’s Minister of Family Services, she was tuning into the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) hearings on the state of the Family Services department.