Developing manual skills in middle and high school

We fully share the ambition of our partner À Deux Mains: to awaken students by training them in manual skills from middle school onwards, to strengthen their practical skills, to stimulate their curiosity and to offer a new way of exploring the world.

By reintegrating hands-on activities into the school curriculum, from 6th grade to 12th grade, the association À Deux Mains (Two Hands) allows students to discover the immense diversity of technical and manual trades from a very young age. Specifically, the association supports middle schools, and soon high schools, in setting up workshop sessions, two hours per week, accessible to all types of students (general track, vocational preparation, special education, specialized units for students with learning difficulties, and students at risk of dropping out), integrated into timetables, and recognized on report cards. These courses are led by professionals in the field, working in pairs with a teacher. They are not vocational training, but rather enrich traditional lessons and enhance knowledge acquisition.

As André Malicot, President of the association, points out, “learning through hands-on experience can be a powerful educational tool: a way to restore confidence, reveal talents, and open up new perspectives.”

In 2025-2026, the association supported 33 middle schools, representing 1,300 students from 6th to 9th grade. Thanks to these programs, students can immerse themselves in diverse fields—Builders, Craftsmen, Engineers, Gourmets, Sowers—and learn without feeling confined to a single specialty. Year after year, they can deepen their existing skills or choose to discover new ones.

Thanks to the support of the Michelin Corporate Foundation, 14 middle schools have been able to open a hands-on engineering program, offering workshops in mechanical watchmaking, bicycle repair, automotive mechanics, and model aircraft building. Each week, students benefit from two hours of workshop time to create an object from start to finish, which they can take home. This hands-on, engaging, and creative experience allows them to understand, manipulate, and above all, dare to imagine.

Testimonials – From Jules Vallès Middle School, in Saint-Étienne (42):

“It’s an inherently inclusive project that eliminates these issues of academic level or social background. Here, we’re doing something together, period.”

“One of the lead teachers, during the cycling sessions, made the connection with traditional subjects by telling the students: ‘Look, this is the same concept we learn in math or technology.’ This same teacher was actually surprised to see so many mathematical concepts involved in repairing a bicycle.”

“We already have several young people who say they have discovered a real interest in mechanics. Others were already interested, but the bicycle mechanics course reinforced their interest. We’re not going to create a generation of bicycle repairers, but we are planting seeds.”