Released: May 3, 2010

Vancouver – Over 285 students will take part in the regional finals of the national public speaking contest, Concours, on Saturday May 8th at Simon Fraser University Surrey. Organized by the BC & Yukon Branch of Canadian Parents for French, Concours offers university entrance scholarships, books, medals and other awards. In addition, Grade 12 sectional winners are invited to the National finals in Ottawa later this month to compete for a $20,000 scholarship to the University of Ottawa. Last year, finalists from BC won three of the five categories at the National finals.

Concours is open to youth from grades six through 12 who are studying in French second language programs (French Immersion, Core French and Intensive French) or the French first language program (Francophone), and who have won their school district finals. An estimated 10,000 children take part in Concours in BC, and many thousands more across Canada, making Concours one of the largest public-speaking events of its type in the country.

In the first year of Concours, there were 27 contestants and 500 students in French Immersion in BC. Now, 27 years later, the K-12 French immersion population in BC numbers almost 44,000, the Yukon has seen an explosion in French immersion enrolment at the elementary level, and 4,369 children follow the Francophone program in 39 schools run by School District #93.

2010 Concours sponsors, supporters and exhibitors include: Canadian Heritage; the BC Ministry of Education; the University of Ottawa; School District # 93; the University of Alberta (Campus St-Jean); Simon Fraser University Surrey; the Canadian Club of Vancouver; the Fédération des francophones de la Colombie-Britannique; Radio-Canada; Québec Intergovernmental Affairs; the Consulate General of France; the Vancouver International Children’s Festival; ArtStarts in Schools; and the Word Nerd.
Canadian Parents for French - BC & Yukon is a non-governmental, parent-led organization promoting French-second-language educational and cultural learning opportunities for youth.

Source: Robert Rothon, Executive Director. Call toll free: 778.329.9115, ext. 316.

Attachments:

Concours Media release ENG 2010 MAY 3 FINAL.pdf	[ ]	35 Kb
Concours Media release FRE 2010 MAY 3 FINAL.pdf	[ ]	35 Kb