UniverlaCité brings university education to neighborhoods
For the past 10 years, UM has been visiting schools in priority neighborhoods. The goal? To introduce young people to scientific and academic disciplines and, why not, inspire them to study at university.
Friday, February 7, 2019, 2 p.m. On the second floor of Simone Bolivar Elementary School in the Mosson neighborhood, Olivier Abdank-Kossousky's fifth-grade class is buzzing with excitement. Is it because the weekend is coming up? Not at all! Just like twice before since the start of the school year, students from the Faculty of Science are coming to visit the kids...
Arctic and Antarctic
“Where is the coldest place on Earth?” “What distinguishes a walrus from a sea lion or a seal?” The questions Lara and Lucille ask the children when they arrive in class are enough to restore silence. For their second visit as part of the UniverlaCité program at Bolivar School, the two third-year biology, environment, and earth sciences students at the Faculty of Sciences chose to introduce the students to the northern and southern polar regions, better known by their generic names: the Arctic and Antarctica. For almost an hour, a lively and illustrated educational presentation on the discovery of the poles, and more specifically the South Pole, its climate, and its endemic fauna and flora, unfolded perfectly under the watchful and attentive eye of the teacher. The young students, captivated by the two speakers' words, remain attentive and actively participate in the session, while at the back of the room, two students studying microbiology and pharmacy —who in a few weeks' time will take their turn speaking to the students—take notes on Lara and Lucille's well-honed techniques for "keeping the class going."
New perspective
“We are in a difficult neighborhood where enthusiasm for school nevertheless exists. However, almost none of my students speak French at home. In addition, the vast majority of them come from modest backgrounds, and some even live in extreme poverty. So every opportunity to stimulate their curiosity and enrich their general knowledge is worth seizing!" explains Olivier Abdank-Kossousky, who is delighted to occasionally hand over his desk to young people who are passionate about science. "UniverlaCité gives students a concrete idea of what they can learn and become by studying at university. This introduction to science gives these vulnerable, disadvantaged children a perspective they had never considered before: pursuing higher education!" adds Catherine Dicky, the principal of the elementary school that has been welcoming volunteer students participating in the program for almost 10 years.
Priority areas and education
Reflecting the societal dimension of UM, UniverlaCité was created in 2009 with the aim of promoting the university in priority areas, particularly in schools within Montpellier's priority education network. All volunteers, with a deeply humanistic spirit, UM students involved withUniverlaCité mainly work in schools in the Mosson and Petit Bard neighborhoods. Each intervention is supervised by Thierry Noëll, the program's founder and coordinator. "The students suggest a scientific topic to me and together we define the necessary framework to adapt it (format, vocabulary) to the target audience," explained the animal biology technician recently on his way to a primary school where, on that day, a young girl passionate about ornithology was preparing to teach a fourth-grade class how to identify birds in cities.
An ambassador for the UM outside its walls and a committed university activist, Thierry Noëll is now considering expandingUniverlaCité to the towns surrounding Montpellier. To continue to offer every child, regardless of their social background, the right to dream of becoming an astronaut, zoologist, or even an explorer tomorrow.