The Impact will again this year extend its presence with the addition of a sixth partner that will benefit from the program aimed at transmitting in classrooms the sports-related values of perseverance, excellence and achievement.
In addition to two already enrolled francophone school boards, namely the Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) and the Commission scolaire Pointe-de-l’Ile (CSPI), the Fédération des établissements d’enseignement privés (FEEP), which encompasses more than 180 schools serving more than 107,000 students across Quebec, will embark on this year’s school tour.
The official FEEP launch was held at the Pensionnat Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Thursday, in the Rosemont district and featured the presence of Montreal Impact midfielder Patrick Leduc, as well as FEEP President Mr. Jean-Marc St-Jacques, FEEP executive director, Mr. Paul Boisvenu and the director of the Pensionnat Notre-Dame-des-Anges, Mrs. France Mailloux.
In the anglophone sector, the English Montreal School Board (EMSB), Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB) and Lester B. Pearson School Board, will again take part in this initiative in 2009 and 2010.
Over the next few weeks and throughout the 2009-2010 school calendar, members of the Montreal Impact will visit elementary and high schools to remind young students of the importance of studying, persevering and building self-confidence to succeed.
“As we embark on the fifth edition of our in-class awareness program, I’m more than ever convinced of the importance as an athlete and individual to share with young people my experience,” said Montreal Impact midfielder Patrick Leduc, program spokesperson since its creation in 2006. “If these workshops allow us to inspire children while encouraging them to believe and develop their own potential, then we will be able to say mission accomplished.”
FEEP President, Mr. Jean-Marc St-Jacques, thanked the Montreal Impact for allowing private schools to benefit from this program.
“With the few resources that are at our reach in the private sector, we are already collaborating substantially to stay-in-school initiatives and to the success of the greatest number,” declared Mr. St-Jacques. “We are thrilled to be able to benefit from every initiative to support us in this endeavour, and more so when it comes from an organization like the Impact, committed to promoting positive values and a healthy lifestyle among young people.”
Renewing its commitment for a third consecutive year, National Bank Financial Group will once again support the school visits program.
"Sports play an important role in our society,” said Sylvie Roy, Vice President, Corporate Marketing and Communications, National Bank Financial Group. “Soccer is enjoying unprecedented popularity in Quebec, mainly because it is within everyone's reach and provides young people the opportunity for development and personal achievement. National Bank Financial Group is particularly proud to continue to actively take part in encouraging young people to stay in school. We wish long life and success to this great initiative put forth by the 2009 champions, the Montreal Impact.”
As a complement to the awareness efforts in the classrooms, young students will get the chance to attend a match at Saputo Stadium in 2010, when the Impact will highlight the presence of each school board during a game.
On this occasion, the Montreal team will commend the performance of the most outstanding students during a special ceremony before the game. Two students from the FEEP, as well as two students from each school board, who stood out both academically and in sports, will be awarded the Tony Licursi bursaries, named in honour of the late Tony Licursi, the long-time statistician who died in 2005 and who was devoted to the cause of helping children better themselves.
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Source: Claudia Gervais, Montreal Impact
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