Starting Sept. 8 students at several local French Catholic schools will be featured in the TFO television program Au défi.

During the shooting of the episodes, students from five Northern Ontario elementary schools, including École élémentaire catholique Félix-Ricard in Sudbury, École élémentaire catholique Ste-Marie in Azilda and École élémentaire catholique Alliance St-Joseph in Chelmsford, had to take up a series of fun and unusual challenges.

These challenges included improvisation, identifying the differences in two drawings, tongue-twisters, “gross” and harmless challenges, and finding words among a group of mixed letters.

The program’s objectives were to promote, unite and celebrate the Franco-Ontarian identity and facilitate networking.

“My experience was memorable,” Olivia Jacot de Boinot, Félix-Ricard student, said in a press release.

“By participating in this francophone, educational and fun show, we learned to become more efficient. We had to use the group’s synergy in our efforts to excel as a team.”

“I was able to discover the behind-the-scene workings of a television show and met people from different schools in Northern Ontario,” said Renée-Anne Blais, another student at Félix-Ricard.

“The challenges were amusing and demanding. We had to read a great deal to succeed.”

“This experience was a great deal of fun,” said Félix-Ricard student Nikolas Smith.

“I made new friends and met some very energetic judges. My favourite challenge was the gross challenge. I especially take great pride in being able to display my passion for my French language.”

Au défi will be aired on TFO at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. until to Sunday. The show can also be viewed online at audefi.tfo.org.