For École Entre-lacs students, the best way to settle a score with teachers and parents is on the ice. On Tuesday, they and some former students met the adults at McLaren Arena for the annual École All-Star game in front of over 100 screaming fans. “About 17 years ago it was organized as a friendly match between parents and school staff and the students,” said Fabien Carrière, the French immersion school’s vice principal. “The whole idea is to have fun, build community and school spirit, kind of like pep rallies that some schools have. This is our rally.”

Facing off against their much larger opponents were waves of student teams from Grade 1 to some older players from secondary school. “We have kids in the Francophone hybrid model at Pen-Hi and this gives them an opportunity to reconnect with the elementary and middle school students at Éntre-lacs,” said Carrière. He added it was especially important for the French-speaking students to get together en masse. “The kids love it. Usually when you go to a match you’re an individual or a small group, so to have the whole arena to yourself is really fun,” he said. “We had music playing, we sang ‘O Canada’ in French to start things off, so to go to a hockey game in Penticton and get the Canadian anthem in French is pretty special.” In the end both teams were the winners along with the many fans of all ages watching from the stands. Final score was 7-7.

Mark Brett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Penticton Herald