In the circularity of life, misfortunes can be converted in happiness. The Yannick Sonnefraud Junior Lab, or Lab-JYS, is one of those events which, starting from a misfortune, are
ensuite recognizeds to be fabulous initiatives here in the learning of science. Thishe year, the Lab-JYS transmits science within the Aubrac college in full heart of the Villeneuve district between Grenoble and Échirolles.
It was in 2014 that the Lab-JYS was born. Yannick Sonnefraud, who studies the optical properties of matter at the nanometric scale, is a CNRS researcher. Following his death that year, his friends and family want to create in his memory an action to educate and awaken children to science. They then approached the pilot center La main à la Pâte of the Lucie Aubrac college and the Néel Institute, in which Yannick was carrying out his research.
The beauty of this project lies in the fact that it is carried out among the inhabitants of Villeneuve, a rather difficult district and more known for the difficulties it endures than for this type of initiative. The objectives of Lab-JYS are as follows:
- to give, through educational activities, a taste for science to children, preferably from disadvantaged neighborhoods,
- encourage students to enjoy learning and practicing science, encourage young people and especially girls to take up scientific careers,
- prepare future citizens to understand the world around them and to understand societal and environmental challenges,
- but also thus extend the scientific and educational involvement of Yannick Sonnefraud, a young researcher who died too soon.
Since its first edition in 2015, the Lab-JYS formed an association in 2017, then joined the pilot center La main à la Pâte of the Lucie Aubrac college in 2019. Since 2020, it has offered mathematical activities and will be listed in the national network of “mathematics clubs”.
Offered as part of the Open School, the Lab-JYS scientific workshops are intended for cycle 3 students (CM-6ème). Free and open on registration, they are available over 5 or 6 Wednesday afternoons during the school year. These workshops are led by researchers from the Néel Institute or from other research centers, by young engineers and doctoral students in close collaboration with teachers from schools and colleges. Many scientific themes are discussed in the workshops (see image above).
On the occasion of the anniversary day of June 2, a guestbook was created compiling photos and testimonials from researchers, teachers and students. We invite you to finish this article on reading the beautiful testimony of Julien Delayahe, researcher at the Institut Néel:
« I was part of the adventure almost from the start. I did not know Yannick, but I was like all the members of my laboratory, very touched by his death. When I learned that his parents, Françoise and Raymond, wanted to carry in his memory a project to educate and awaken young people to science, I could only respond positively. “Giving children a taste for science through educational activities, preferably from underprivileged neighborhoods”, “making students enjoy learning and practicing science”, I found myself fully in the objectives of the Junior Lab. I, along with other researchers from the laboratory and friends of Yannick, formed the first team of animators for the 2015 vintage. It was the start of a great adventure, driven by kindness, generosity and energy of Françoise and Raymond. And for this 6th
season ahead, I am proud to still be in the team and to belong to the Lab Junior “family”.
The first year I led a workshop on colors and light, my hobby. Then I subsequently proposed a decentralized workshop at the Institut Néel on the theme of refrigeration. I knew that with liquid nitrogen, we could amaze children, while addressing important scientific concepts, such as heat, temperature or changes of state. For the workshop to be successful, it was necessary to add the fabrication of an object to the demonstration experiments. I chose a water thermometer, and it was on! And every year since 2016 (except last year due to COVID), a dozen children come to the laboratory by tram to spend the afternoon there. It is a small expedition for them and the guides, but it is the opportunity to discover a research laboratory “in real life”. For the laboratory, this is one of the rare moments when we welcome very young audiences, which is particularly refreshing.
What do I take away from these animation times? The children’s joy, their insatiable curiosity and their enthusiasm for the experiences on offer (and not just for the big cakes that the Institute usually orders for them). And even if the workshop only lasts a few hours, they retain more things than you might think: a child who had come two years in a row remembered everything the second time around, he could almost have presented the workshop to my place. This is the Junior Lab: moments of sharing, great encounters and little seeds sown in the eyes of children, seeds that will certainly help them grow up and look at the world differently.
So long live the Junior Lab! And thank you to Françoise and Raymond.
Julien Delahaye »
If you are interested in joining the team, or for any other information concerning Lab-JYS, you can contact Sophie Thuillier, coordinator of the pilot center La Main à la Pâte at Aubrac college in La Villeneuve and organizer of Lab-JYS activities since 2017: [email protected]
Other sources:
– Echosciences du Lab-JYS: https://www.echosciences-grenoble.fr/membres/lab-junior-yannick
– The Lab-JYS on the MPLS-AD:
https://www.maisons-pour-la-science.org/node/1472549
– Lucie Aubrac pilot center:
https://www.maisons-pour-la-science.org/node/14191
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