CM2 students from the Roland Lucile school in Kourou distinguished themselves in the National Education Ministry’s “La Flamme de l’Égalité” competition. They won the 1st prize by working on the book “My name is Copena” by Marie-George Thébia.
More than 5,135 students educated in 178 establishments, spread over 31 academies, in France and overseas took part in the “Flame of Equality” competition. This competition aims to raise awareness of the history of the slave trade, slavery and their abolition. Pupils and educational teams had to design a project responding to the theme “ Work in slavery “.
It was about understanding what place slavery and the slave trade have in people’s memories. Between September and November, the national jury evaluated the work selected by the academic juries in order to draw up the national prize list. 302 projects were submitted.
This year it was the CM2 students of the Roland Lucile school in Kourou who won first prize ex-aequo with schoolchildren from Reunion. They made a video about slave labor from the book My name is Copena written by Marie-George Thébia and published by Editions Plume verte.
The book served as the main resource to build the project around six themes: people, places, actions, Africanness, emotions and living conditions of slaves in colonial Guyana. This project was initiated by three teachers: Sarah Lechner, Isabelle Bernard and Sophie Evry.
This project starts with the meeting of three teachers, me, Isabelle Bernard and Sophie Evry. We have chosen the work of Marie-Georges Thébia. We wanted to create a multidisciplinary project, we wanted to use this book as a guideline for the learning of the whole class (…). What was very interesting is that Copena is a child from Guyana, so the students were able to identify well with the characters and participate in the project. (…) What gave us a strength for the competition is that we were on a job attached to the territory of Guyana. We used a book that is part of Guyanese heritage. It worked in our favor. We produced a video where each element was produced by the children: the texts, the music, the drawings. We just arranged all this, to enhance the work of the students.
Sarah Lechner teacher
Watch the winning project: “The look of Copena to understand slavery in Guyana”
Video “Copena’s perspective on understanding slavery in French Guiana
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An unforgettable May 10
In the College category, Guyanese also distinguished themselves. : pupils of 3th from Paul Kapel College in Cayenne won first prize.
On May 10, the winners and the educational team will receive their prizes in Paris during the Commemoration of the memory of slavery and its abolition.
In the meantime, a restitution is expected in the coming weeks.