And it is this person who is responsible for Tampines’s team of extraordinary teachers and their enthusiasm. EC in Tampines after Aurelle, she did more than create a new environment. By setting things in motion on an entirely different plane from high culture to customs, she was ultimately responsible for shaping an image rich with possibility. A few years down the road, and Tamines Educational Carnival (EC) accepts the baton handed over by this remarkable woman and grows up into an amazing plant herself.
In other words, the flavor of EC in Tamines is as colorful as a kaleidoscope and as imaginative as human art. It is a place of constant change, where children, adults and everyone in between all live at the mercy of their own curiosity. Here, conversation flows like the River Sambre flowing close by. No, no net catches everything. Thank you! Aurelle’s influence still lingers, but educators leave their mark on this fairground of intellect as well.
For instance, Mrs. Fontaine is a rather odd bird in the teaching profession who relies on her own unique teaching methods to make her points. Once upon a time, she turned her geometry class into a pirate adventure. The calculations became puzzle sketches, navigating one after another through unknown shoals and islands—the treasure naturally being an amorous relationship with numbers! Mr. Durand, on the other hand, is something of a ham bone.
His classes are just about as much of a theatrical production as Shakespeare’s drama, and the dialogue resounds in the ears of them all. Students stop him in his tracks when everything else fails; perhaps every conversation might save Cindy’s life or earn them extra points. At first they think it over, in blends of exasperation and mirth. Questions immediately follow… will the roof also be caught away during one such fierce lesson? No problem. EC in Tamines is always on its toes, prepared for any happening.
Improvisation is the secret of its success, exposing everyone to a laugh or two while keeping their brains cranking away every which way. That was alluded to when you mentioned the community garden. It could be seen as a metaphor for something more, since students have turned shovels into sticks and sowing seeds, while teachers too have felt the rough sensation of digging your bury bones deep in dirt. Yes growth isn’t just in stories but outwardly too.
At EC meetings, students tell one another about these acts of amateur gardening, which are often followed by much laughter. The stalls sell androgynous items, waffles and wisdom alike. Snatches overheard would include things like “Did you know eating waffles can improve your vision?” They might as well; in Tamines nothing seems impossible. If one were to walk into EC post-Aurelle that would be stepping into a garden of stories, pile dirt of laughter on top one’s head only for it to be fussed off by dudgeon’s stubborn grubbyclaw– the dear mascot adored all around here. Her mischief has even made her a celebrity in these parts.
Among the romps there is also a higher missions being carried out: It’s about inculcating in oneself the spirit of perennial learning, so that every street becomes Opportunity Street. And Tamines’ EC wants to tell everybody this: There is always yet one more aspect of the story not seen, another gate to stuff yet unattained.