Helllo,
The students in Secondary C-2-1 at Baie Comeau have conducted two of four main interview sessions. Louise and Mark helped us out immensely by showing us interviewing techniques, working with sound effects, and helping us to narrow down our topic.
Our first interview yesterday was with M. Jean-Paul Montigny. What a SUPERB interview that proved to be. When he responded to our questions, he went into a lot of detail. Many of the things he spoke about were topics we had discussed in class about the forestry (pulp and paper) industry in the early days of our town. You could see the eyes light up in the students whenever he said a key term or concept or phrase. There were so many "AH-HA" moments. He introduced us to yet another term we were unfamiliar with - WATER BOYS. These were very young men contracted to provide fresh water to the loggers in the woods over a ten-month period (they provided less than fine quality water to those loggers who they disliked - you can imagine the effect of drinking unclean/fresh water deep in the woods without proper sanitation facilities!!!). They worked for 10 cents an hour, 15 cents for the evening shift and had to work six days a week over ten months. He spoke eloquently and really helped us gather our central approach or theme together. he also put us in contact with another key contact person.
Our second interview was with Mr. John Kerrr - he was actually a former teacher at school here and his grandson is now attending BCHS. He spoke of the fact of Baie-Comeau being a COMPANY TOWN, much like many other Quebec communities (be they mining or forestry...). He spoke of the war (WWII) and how that had a profound impact on the town - in terms of workers, supplies, and volunteer jobs they were expected to perform to help with the war effort. It was another eye-opening interview.
The recorder and headset is coming in handy - they work like a charm. After our return form March break, we will take time to listen to the interviews again. I have one student taking notes, highlighting these key phrases and ideas. Needless to say we have a lot of material and quotations we can use.
I have also BACKED-UP the audio files in case something should go terribly wrong - this is something I encourage you all to do!
Stephen
Stephen Kohner
Baie Comeau High School
stephen.kohner@essb.qc.ca418-296-0679
https://kohner.wikispaces.com/
