{"id":6274,"date":"2018-06-08T10:29:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T14:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/?page_id=6274"},"modified":"2019-03-15T14:42:51","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T18:42:51","slug":"filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Filling bellies to keep kids in school"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nearly 30 years of partnership between Toujours ensemble <\/em>and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and L\u00e9vis-Sauv\u00e9 schools<\/strong><\/h6>\n

Founded in 1979, the community non-profit\u00a0Toujours ensemble<\/a><\/em> has been operating in Verdun since 1986. Its primary goal is to help Verdun kids aged 6 to 17 who struggle with academic, family, economic, or social problems to stay in school and offer them a healthier and safer environment.<\/p>\n

\u00ab If you\u2019re hungry, it\u2019s not very conducive to learning. So yes, keeping kids in school is also about filling their bellies. \u00bb<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For 27 years now, following the implementation of the government\u2019s nutrition measure for disadvantaged areas (Mesure alimentaire en milieu d\u00e9favoris\u00e9), Toujours ensemble has been preparing and offering low-cost school lunches for some 60 students in two local elementary schools \u2013 Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and L\u00e9vis-Sauv\u00e9. These children from less well-off families thus get one meal a day during the 180 days of the school year. \u201cIf you\u2019re hungry, it\u2019s not very conducive to learning. So yes, keeping kids in school is also about filling their bellies,\u201d stresses Bineta Ba, executive director of Toujours ensemble<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois Millette,\u00a0Bineta Ba and Natalie Gilbert (Photo : Fran\u00e7ois Couture)<\/em><\/p>\n

“The meals are delivered to the school by their own facilitators, which gives students an initial contact with the organization and a chance to hear about the services that they may eventually benefit from.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why do these schools go through a community organization rather than a caterer? \u201cFor many reasons,\u201d explains Fran\u00e7ois Millette, principal of L\u00e9vis-Sauv\u00e9 elementary<\/a>. \u201cFirst, Toujours ensemble uses a nutritionist to create healthy, balanced meals. The organization\u2019s staff also introduces our students to new types of food, such as tofu. So in a sense, Toujours ensemble is promoting food education too. They also offer a wonderful opportunity for young adults to work or reintegrate into society, which is something dear to my heart. And the meals are delivered to the school by their own facilitators, which gives students an initial contact with the organization and a chance to hear about the services that they may eventually benefit from. It\u2019s clear to me that all this amounts to a huge added value.\u201d<\/p>\n

“It gives them a chance to socialize and change things up, and it roots them more strongly in the community.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Natalie Gilbert, principal of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes elementary<\/a> and a former teacher who worked with Toujours ensemble for many years, is also aware of the added value that comes out of the school-community partnership. \u201cOur school is located literally a stone\u2019s throw from the organization, so every day at noon, our students in the program leave together with a supervisor to eat their lunch at Toujours ensemble. It gives them a chance to socialize and change things up, and it roots them more strongly in the community. In fact, many of our students have later become facilitators for Toujours ensemble<\/em>. We also have great lines of communication with Toujours ensemble. They always follow up if an incident happens at lunch or if a student has special needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

A long-lasting partnership<\/h6>\n

“It\u2019s an absolutely essential service for us, because the needs here are so very great.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of buzz around school perseverance in recent years. New programs are being established, and that\u2019s wonderful. But I\u2019m happy to say that we can talk about this old partnership with our two schools, established nearly 30 years ago and that has kind of flown under the radar, since it doesn\u2019t attract much attention anymore. We have to work hard to make sure this initiative stays around, since it is itself a fantastic example of perseverance! It\u2019s an absolutely essential service for us, because the needs here are so very great,\u201d notes Ba.<\/p>\n

_ June 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Over the coming months, Montreal Hooked on School will publish a series of articles about various fruitful partnerships between the education sector and community stakeholders promoting youth success. <\/em><\/p>\n

We asked writer and photographer Fran\u00e7ois Couture<\/strong> to go and meet the people involved in these partnerships and tell their stories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly 30 years of partnership between Toujours ensemble and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and L\u00e9vis-Sauv\u00e9 schools Founded in 1979, the community non-profit\u00a0Toujours ensemble has been operating in Verdun since 1986. Its primary goal is to help Verdun kids aged 6 to 17 who struggle with academic, family, economic, or social problems to stay in school and offer them … Continue reading Filling bellies to keep kids in school<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":5770,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-6274","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFilling bellies to keep kids in school - R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Filling bellies to keep kids in school - R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nearly 30 years of partnership between Toujours ensemble and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and L\u00e9vis-Sauv\u00e9 schools Founded in 1979, the community non-profit\u00a0Toujours ensemble has been operating in Verdun since 1986. Its primary goal is to help Verdun kids aged 6 to 17 who struggle with academic, family, economic, or social problems to stay in school and offer them … Continue reading Filling bellies to keep kids in school →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-15T18:42:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/\",\"name\":\"Filling bellies to keep kids in school - R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-08T14:29:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-15T18:42:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Working together to help students be successful\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Filling bellies to keep kids in school\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/\",\"name\":\"R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Filling bellies to keep kids in school - R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Filling bellies to keep kids in school - R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al","og_description":"Nearly 30 years of partnership between Toujours ensemble and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes and L\u00e9vis-Sauv\u00e9 schools Founded in 1979, the community non-profit\u00a0Toujours ensemble has been operating in Verdun since 1986. Its primary goal is to help Verdun kids aged 6 to 17 who struggle with academic, family, economic, or social problems to stay in school and offer them … Continue reading Filling bellies to keep kids in school →","og_url":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/","og_site_name":"R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al","article_modified_time":"2019-03-15T18:42:51+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/","url":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/","name":"Filling bellies to keep kids in school - R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg","datePublished":"2018-06-08T14:29:19+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-15T18:42:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/PHOTO-_-TOUJOURS-ENSEMBLE_700.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/filling-bellies-to-keep-kids-in-school\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Working together to help students be successful","item":"https:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/working-together-to-help-students-be-successful\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Filling bellies to keep kids in school"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/","name":"R\u00e9seau r\u00e9ussite Montr\u00e9al","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8696,"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6274\/revisions\/8696"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.reseaureussitemontreal.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}