Ernest Jr. Edmond and Karine Gravel | For the adults of tomorrow

She lives in Saguenay, he is a Montrealer of Haitian origin. She takes care of toddlers, he takes care of teenagers. But what they have in common transcends the rest: each, in their own way, supports the adults of tomorrow to make them engaged citizens. Shed light on the involvement of Karine Gravel and Ernest Jr. Edmond, two behind-the-scenes influencers who have the well-being of young people at heart.

“You know when a lightning bolt hits you and you just found what you want to do with your life? » In a small meeting room The PressKarine Gravel talks about this moment when she knew that the daycare she dreamed of for her children was she who would set it up.

She had a baby a few months old on her back and no professional experience in early childhood, but as a mother, she did not recognize herself in the current daycare model and she suspected that she was not the only one.

Two years later, in October 2019, Garderie Nature opened its doors on the edge of a forest in Saguenay. The 78 children who attend this private daycare go outside every day, for as long as possible. Even in winter, groups sleep outside, in a shelter or in a heated tent. Children invent games, create rules, get dirty, learn to live together. Free play is in the spotlight. And nature is at the heart of learning.

Karine Gravel is among the pioneers of nature education in early childhood in Quebec. She is a source of inspiration in the industry.

Answer to a need

Ernest Jr. Edmond discovered his calling organically. In the summer of 2009, his cousin asked him to coach him in basketball. Other young people joined them spontaneously. Ernest felt a need there. A need for free, quality sporting activities. “I coached in schools, and when young people from disadvantaged backgrounds saw the facilities in Brébeuf or Westmount, there was an inferiority complex,” he relates. Karine Gravel listens to him. “Phew, that’s quite a message to receive,” she says.

Today, the organization Les ballons intensives welcomes some 350 young people each summer to basketball camps offered free of charge in parks in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Montreal and elsewhere in Quebec, and around 200 young people to basketball teams. Here, commitment is in the spotlight: commitment to the program, but also social and cultural commitment. Participants volunteer in organizations in their community and participate in various cultural activities. Their three values? Wake up early, work hard and shine like the sun.

“At school, when I grew up, if you were Haitian, you were put in a box: you played basketball or soccer, and you were often associated with negative things,” says Ernest Jr. Edmond, who saw several young people playing “tough” without having the profile. Too often perceived as “causes to be helped”, these young people are nevertheless an integral part of the solution to create a better society, underlines Ernest Jr. Edmond, who fights the “elitist” side of youth involvement.

Today, Ernest Jr. Edmond sees young people from Intensive Balloons getting involved in school, in mental health, in business, as coaches, as artists… “It also offers another vision of young people to the population: this n He’s not the bum who hangs out in the park in the evening, but someone who does something constructive in the park in the morning and gets involved in the community. »

Like a handful of other environments, Karine Gravel’s daycare has paved the way for other initiatives in the field of education through nature, an avenue in full development in Quebec. “Every day, I receive confirmation from educators who watch us go, who find us inspiring, who change the way they do things,” she says.

In his eyes, even daycares in the heart of Montreal can be inspired by the holistic vision of education through nature, if only by bringing children to play in a small wood nearby. And we should ensure, as a society, that new daycares open close to natural environments, she says. “We protect what we love. We must ensure that children develop an emotional bond with nature,” says Karine Gravel, who recalls the positive impact of nature on well-being. “Now is the time to act. »