Chapters Chapter Rep Update (CRU) 2011 December CRU
| 2011 December CRU |
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CPF – BC & Yukon Chapter UpdateGreetings friends, I hope this message finds you well as we all enter the holiday season, look back at our achievements of 2011 and plan for great things in the year ahead! Last month, BC residents voted in their school trustee elections. As you may recall, our branch office circulated some resources through our Parents Are Voters campaign (www.parentsvote.ca) to help educate and engage your local School Trustee candidates. Now that the elections are over, we want to know what you thought about these resources: Did you use them? Were they helpful? What responses did you receive from your local candidates? Please send me your answers in an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I’ll also be sending out a template letter of congratulations to the new and returning School Trustees which our office encourages you to fill out and send to your Trustees. And speaking of congratulations – we extend ours to two long-standing CPF chapter volunteers Sheila Boehm of Williams Lake and Charlene Dobie of Surrey, both of whom were recently elected for the first time to School Trustee positions in their communities. This is another terrific example of CPF parents taking the next step to help make a positive difference in their communities. If you know of other CPF members who were successfully elected School Trustees, please let us know! Keep in touch, French will not be devalued in BC schools We are pleased to announce that the BC Ministry of Education has reversed a controversial curriculum proposal which would have demoted the significance of French in BC’s public education system. We are grateful to our members, partners and others in the Francophone and Francophile community for their support and for joining forces to oppose the categorization of French – an Official Language of Canada and the second most spoken language in BC - as just another “additional language.” For more information: 2011 Membership Drive: Thank you and Congratulations! THANK YOU for your terrific efforts with this year’s membership drive and congratulations on your increased numbers. It is great to welcome new members to our community. Our lucky membership drive prize winners are going to be announced soon! Stay tuned to the CPF website for a full list of winners and prizes! http://bit.ly/vaE2NUConcours d’Art Oratoire – Help Your School Participate! CPF’s Concours d’Art Oratoire is a French public speaking competition that provides elementary and secondary students with an excellent opportunity to develop writing, reading, and public speaking skills. If your school does not currently participate in this annual event, please feel free to highlight the opportunity to your school principal and/or teachers. Registration for the provincial Concours begins February 28, 2012 and will remain open until April 18. The final rounds of the provincial competition will be held on Saturday, May 5h, 2012 at SFU-Surrey Campus. Winners will advance to the national level. More information, including how to set up a Concours at your school, is available online at http://bit.ly/sUOp83 New online resource for French Immersion Parents via CPF Alberta Yes, You Can Help! Information and Inspiration for French Immersion Parents – the ground-breaking Alberta Education book that has sold thousands of copies since the first edition in 1996 – is now available online and we welcome BC & Yukon branch members to check it out. Yes, You Can Help! is designed for parents from preschool to postsecondary. The 12 major sections include:
This resource is also great for educators. Teachers and administrators can use it to help answer questions from parents. Trustees and others who want an introduction to the immersion approach will also find it most helpful. BC Education Plan – join the conversation “The world has changed… The way we educate our children should too.”- BC Education Plan The BC Ministry of Education has released a new website detailing their innovative new Education Plan and asking the public to engage and provide input: http://www.bcedplan.ca December Important Notes & ActivitiesFrancophone Events Across BC La Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique has kindly provided our office with a list of Francophone events taking place across BC this December. You can view or download this list on our Partner Events page: http://bit.ly/sMMOop Special screening of 1981, just $1 for CPF members, December 14 As a thank you to our members, we are partnering with Denman Cinemas in Vancouver to offer you a $1 screening of Quebec comedy 1981. That’s right, just $1! Show your membership card to receive $14 off the price of your ticket. There will be prizes and surprises as well! For more information, please visit our webpage: http://bit.ly/rV8K4O Free screenings through the National Film Board of Canada during Rendez-vous de la francophonie – Order by January 13, 2012! The NFB partners with Rendez-vous de la Francophonie to offer community groups French film programs for free screenings in your community from March 9 to 25, 2012. Orders must be made with the NFB directly by January 13, 2012. For a list of programs, order details and forms, and other important information, please see our website: http://bit.ly/uSeOLp Educacentre French courses for Parents – Courses begin February 2012 From Educacentre: “Does your child learn French at an immersion school or a francophone program? Would you like to accompany your child's studies and speak some French in your family, but your knowledge of French is too limited? The French for Parents program offers courses specifically developed for parents. The courses allow you to learn French on topics relating to daily family life, school, etc. Participants will gain a solid understanding of grammar basics, vocabulary and pronunciation. A friendly environment in a workshop setting provides numerous opportunities to practice your language skills. The method includes active situations of family activities, discussions between participants and with the teacher, role plays, and exercises of the study book.” More information about levels and cost can be obtained at Educacentre’s website here: http://bit.ly/uCqMqA French Bursaries for Students and Teachers The BC Ministry of Education and the Government of Canada offer BC residents, including students and French teachers, bursaries for a number of French language programs. Programs include:
Check out the full list of programs available here: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/frenchprograms/offlang.htm Our terrific new CPF BC & Yukon branch Facebook page We have a new and improved Facebook page – and you don’t have to have a Facebook account to read our updates! Simply bookmark the link to our public page and check back often! Let us know about activities in your community and we will share them here as well. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Canadian-Parents-for-French-BC-Yukon/204994929577136
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