Area FSL students win national French-speaking competition

Mississauga, ON — On May 28, 2016 thirty-nine high school students from across Canada visited the Nation’s Capital to compete in Canadian Parents for French’s (CPF) National Concours d’art oratoire Finals. CPF Ontario, the Ontario branch of CPF, sent 4 students in grades 11-12 to represent Ontario at the 2016 CPF National Concours d’art oratoire Finals.

The Concours d’art oratoire final event draws students from across Canada in the competition that offers over $500,000 in scholarships from the University of Ottawa, Université de Moncton, University of Prince Edward Island, Université Sainte-Anne, and Université de Saint-Boniface.

The students, having won at their provincial or territorial championships, competed in five categories ranging from Core French to Francophone for this final competition. They spoke on topics including feminism, islamophobia, the impact of social media and the power of music.

The winners of the 2016 edition of the CPF National Concours d’art oratoire are listed below, including 3 first place winners from Toronto:

Level 1 [Core French] 1st Place: Kieran Kredié-Akazaki (Toronto, Ontario)
2nd Place: Mariia Nevoit (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
3rd Place: Amal Javed Abdullah (Surrey, BC)
Level 2 [Core French Extended] 1st Place: Amna Majeed (Toronto, Ontario)
2nd Place: Fatima Beydoun (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
3rd Place: Hanaa Mekawy (Holyrood, Newfoundland)

Level 3 [Late French Immersion] 1st Place: Sharina Frija-Altarac (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec)
2nd Place: Lea Muhigi (Dieppe, New Brunswick)
3rd Place: Annie Xu (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Level 4 [Early French Immersion] 1st Place: Mubeena Mistry (Toronto, Ontario)
2nd Place: Hamish Clinton (Burnaby, BC)
3rd Place: Austin Henderson (Salisbury, New Brunswick)
Level 5 [Francophone] 1st Place: Selina Leveugle (Edmonton, Alberta)
2nd Place: Victoria Blouin (Gatineau, Québec)
3rd Place: Gwendolyn Culver (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Jane Keith, Canadian Parents for French National President, served as Master of Ceremonies for the event and congratulated participants on their accomplishments: “You join us as some of Canada’s best and brightest and are proof that young Canadians want to learn French as well as recognize the cultural and professional significance of acknowledging Canada’s two official languages.”

Participants spent two nights in the Nation’s Capital, participating in several excursions to some of Ottawa’s most popular landmarks accompanied by CPF staff and volunteers, including bilingual guided tours of the Canadian War Museum, Parliament Hill, as well as time for shopping at the Rideau Centre, and a French-language screening of the IMAX 3D film, Les Mystères du monde invisible, at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.