Two French Immersion students from Vernon were awarded top honours at the recent Concours d’art oratorie, a provincial French public speaking competition recently held at Simon Fraser University.
Grade 6 student, Rowan Broadhead, from Beairsto, won 2nd place with his presentation entitled “Les pesticides,” while grade 6 late immersion student from Harwood, Ava Lee-Gock, won 3rd place presenting on “La crême glâcée.”
Students participating in Concours are required to prepare and present a 3-5 minute speech on a subject of their choosing, all in French. The competition progress through series of stages starting with a competition in the students’ classroom, moving to a school district competition, and finally ending with the provincial competition.
“We are very proud of all our students in the French program,” said Superintendent Joe Rogers. “Studies have shown that learning a second language increases overall cognitive development, and our teachers, at Harwood for the late immersion program, Beairsto and Seaton, are doing a tremendous job teaching over 1000 students in the program. The results from Concours speak to that.”
Other Vernon finalists in the weekend competition include Beairsto’s Ulyana Doerksen in the Grade 6 Francophone category with, “Les cafés des chats” and Harwood’s grade 7 late immersion, J’Lee Howitt, 7 with “Gord Downie.”
Staff Resources
