Memory: A vibrant tribute to Samuel Paty in schools and schools in the Northern Islands

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From kindergarten to high school via the National Education service of the northern islands of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, the national tribute to Samuel Paty has revived the brilliance of the blue, white and red of the Republic French national anthem!

If the schools and educational establishments of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin have, for the most part, opted for a classic tribute to Samuel Paty through multiple pedagogical approaches within the classes, others have preferred a commemoration stamped collective unity. .   

For example, the principal, Mrs. Martine Magnier, of the Siméonne Trott nursery school and her teams sowed seeds of peace, love and unity in the middle of the courtyard. What could be better than laying the foundations of a secular school with and by the very young? Indeed, they put pebbles of different colors and reconstituted the symbol of "Peace and love" known worldwide. Beforehand, painting sessions had enabled them to combine art with history and to take an active part in the duty of collective memory. For the occasion, the portrait of Samuel Paty had been exhibited on an easel and it was under the gaze of this professor of history, geography and moral and civic education who, a year ago, had paid with his life for teaching a course on freedom of expression, that the work of art was built. This seed in homage to Samuel Paty can only germinate and the young shoots will quickly turn into gigantic trees with roots of freedom, equality and fraternity, solid and deep, revealing countless leafy branches sheltering secularism. all shadows harmful to their development.

Elsewhere, the older children have continued to cultivate a precious garden where tolerance, fraternity, equality and freedom have never ceased to grow and this is what an unusual meeting the school community had given witness to. of the LEGT Robert Weinum in full. The courtyard, the passageways  outside the establishment welcomed actors mobilized around the same cause, the defense of secularism, the defense of human rights, the defense of the French currency, in summary the defense of the French Nation and its Fundamental principles. The principal, Mr. Olivier Saunier, did not fail to hammer the minds of future citizens with a speech punctuated by the anaphora “Let’s remember! "

Indeed, everyone has the duty not to forget the outstanding facts of ignobility of the history to better prepare to denounce them, to fight them, to reject them, to thwart them. It is ignorance and not knowledge that turns children into combatants. It is again this which leads some to advocate tyranny instead of democracy. The high school students and various actors of the school community then sang “La Marseillaise” not without vigor before returning to classrooms and offices under the tunes of “C'est ça la France”, a song by Marc Lavoine which reminds us that we must not forget the three words that end in "tee", that "Freedom of the press is not just an impression", that "We are all brothers according to the declaration". It was the teachers' turn to take over purely educational and to amplify the scope of this commemoration marked by a demonstrative commitment.

Finally, under the leadership of the vice-rector, Michel Sanz and in the presence of the prefect of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, Serge Gouteyron, the commemoration of the assassination of Samuel Paty took on a very solemn character in the offices of the service. of the national education of the northern islands. The Vice-Rector's speech left no room for doubt and the assassination of Samuel Paty by an Islamist terrorist at the end of his college has greatly upset the whole of France and put to the test the very foundations of our Republic. and the values ​​of our society and our school, but it has also reinforced them. He underlined the essential place of knowledge: all the disciplines taught at school contribute to opening up to knowledge, to discovering the world in all its aspects: social, cultural, scientific, literary ... The values ​​and humanist culture that can be transmit teachings such as literature, philosophy, Latin, Greek, history, geography, EMC, foreign languages, sport, fully participate in the knowledge of others and therefore in their recognition as to be equal in rights and dignity.

The prefect, invited by the vice-rector to speak, corroborated the words previously spoken qualifying Samuel Paty as a black hussar of the Republic. A commemorative plaque affixed in the premises of the national education service of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, symbol of a collective commitment to the citizen training of the public entrusted to the national education was then unveiled by the vice-rector and the prefect. The minute of silence in memory of Samuel Paty which was to be respected following the reading of the text inscribed on the said plaque was heavy with meaning and emotion and concluded with “La Marseillaise”, declared a national song on July 14, 1795. The call of citizens to take up arms was indeed heard on this day of commemoration, a call to acquire knowledge, a real weapon against all tyranny! (Thanks to Evelyne Fleming, project manager of the vice-rector of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin and secularity referent in the northern islands).

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