Last September, the 160 first-year students at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Metz took part in a weekend of community service renovating the exterior of the CASSIS association's premises. Bruno Pelhatre, vice president of the association, answered a few questions.
What projects have you worked on with the students?
It was through the Metz City Hall that we came into contact with the Arts et Métiers studentsfrom the GaSole association.
In September 2019, they renovated the Petit Bois community center in the Borny neighborhood of Metz, carrying out extensive painting work. During the first lockdown, we worked with other volunteers and associations to set up the Fabrique Résiliente, which produced 8,000 to 9,000 masks for the most disadvantaged members of the community.
The latest draft is dated September 2020.
Can you tell us more?
In July 2020, the new GaSole team came to us with a project for future first-year students, numbering around 160. The project consisted of three parts: repainting the headquarters of the CASSIS association and three offices, painting the gates of the primary schools and Haut-de-Blémont middle school, and creating chairs and tables out of pallets.
This project took place over the weekend of September 5 and 6, 2020, and was carried out with the support of the Metz City Council in its design and implementation.
What is your opinion of these renovations?
Without the help of the Arts et Métiers students, Arts et Métiers would still have an old, charmless building covered in graffiti that no longer reflected our missions, which are to welcome the public, offer French lessons, help immigrants, run a community grocery store, integrate unemployed women and men, and run a sports and physical activities school to help young people in the neighborhood (soccer, handball, judo).
Our building now blends in better with the urban landscape. And we have received nothing but positive feedback from beneficiaries and members about the renovation of the building, which is almost 40 years old.
What memories do you have of that weekend?
We will always remember the atmosphere and the relationships that developed between all those involved. In particular, this weekend gave young graduates the opportunity to experience the reality of a so-called priority neighborhood.
None of this would have been possible without the superb organization of the student association.
