In the CE1 class of Régis Ettlin, school teachers in Montreux-Vieux, the students flourish by combining ecology, botany and civic education. The municipality supports them by making human and material resources available to carry out a project of high educational value. And the children have started to learn, like Voltaire’s Candide, that we must “cultivate our garden”.
Objective tray, flowers and fruit
Children and adults got to work as soon as the confinement was over: shovel, rake and watering can in hand, around twenty schoolchildren took part in a gardening session, supervised by their teacher, parents, and benefiting from the knowledge -make municipal employees. Flower and fruit boxes have been set up by the children within the school itself but also in the streets of the village. We should also note the involvement of schoolchildren from Chavannes-sur-l’Étang alongside their fellow students from Montreux, since the two schools are organized as an intercommunal educational group (RPI). Within the municipality of Montreux-Vieux, Estelle Dontenvill, 3rd assistant, Stéphanie Fautsch, Pauline Schorr, vice-president of the Intercommunal Syndicate of School Affairs (SIAS) and Jean-Claude Geiss ensured the follow-up of this activity, which targets several Goals.
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Plural education
From an educational point of view, it is of course a question of studying plants in class, of moving from theory to practice, of making children aware of ecology. This was the initial objective of Régis Ettlin, who works in collaboration with the Altenach Nature House. But, beyond this very “down to earth” aspect, the approach directs the pupils towards a greater respect for nature, and therefore for their living environment.
Estelle Dontenvill notes it with bitterness: even in a town like Montreux-Vieux, incivilities are numerous. Efforts to beautify the village are often poorly rewarded. This is why the 3rd assistant is delighted with this initiative in favor of citizenship education, involving the pupils in their own environment.
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A bet on the future that is part of the overall development and beautification project of the village: in addition to the flower boxes, a structure has been created on the Town Hall Square, a flowery fallow near the cemetery; all beautifully made with recovery equipment by volunteers, for the sake of economy and with a natural spirit: these achievements are designed to limit watering, especially by mulching.
In the same vein, the development of flowery fallows, beyond the aesthetic aspect, aims to develop biodiversity through honey crops, with as a corollary the development of insect hotels. Not so candid as that but resolutely optimistic, the action carried out jointly by the municipality, the school and its small gardeners, should bear fruit.
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