Daniel T'seleie
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 26/04) - Yellowknife Education District No. 1 held their second French Immersion Day on Friday, May 14.

Two hundred and thirty students from the three Yellowknife public schools with French immersion programs gathered at the Yellowknife Community Arena and Ruth Inch Memorial Pool to celebrate and play games in French.

The day-long event was presented as a competition -- prizes include movie passes and French DVDs -- but also served to bring immersion students from around Yellowknife together to meet each other.

Sir John Franklin high school, William MacDonald and J.H. Sissons schools all had students attending. They separated into 10 groups of mixed ages.

Featured among the games was la petanque, a game popular in France.

Best described as a mix between curling and marbles, the goal of la petanque is to throw or roll large balls as close as possible to a smaller ball, called le cochonnet.

The game is normally played in sand, but for French Immersion Day snow had to suffice.

The students also participated in the painting of three murals, sketched beforehand by Yellowknife artist Jen Walden.

Each of the three schools involved will receive a mural.