Toronto, June 5, 2020 – More than 950 youth across Canada shared their experience in a COVID-19 world for the Canadian Parents for French Concours virtuel : Ensemble à distance – ‘ton expérience face au virus’ (your experience with the virus) contest. Students submitted short videos, from one to three minutes, describing how their lives have changed with the new public health protocols. From social distancing to living in quarantine, schools being closed to online learning. Students told their stories about new skills they’ve learned, combating frustrations of their new circumstances, and other lessons they may have learned along the way.
Every year Canadian Parents for French (Ontario) organizes the Provincial Concours d’art oratoire, the largest French public-speaking event for students studying French as a Second Language in Ontario. It gives students the opportunity to showcase their public speaking and presentation skills. Competitions are conducted at the classroom/school, provincial/territorial, and national levels. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional and impromptu competition was canceled. This virtual contest was developed in response to the cancellation of the Concours d’art oratoire and it was met with great enthusiasm from participants and their parents as it gave students the opportunity to use their video-making creativity to share and express their feelings.
“Concours virtuel succeeded in harnessing the creativity and confidence of our young language learners to express themselves in French,” said Betty Gormley, Executive Director, CPF Ontario.
All 197 submissions from Ontario were outstanding and we are proud of how well they placed in the national results below. To watch the winners’ videos, visit https://bc-yk.cpf.ca/concoursvirtuel/.
Congratulations to all students for participating, and to parents, judges, and teachers for supporting the contest in its new format. The support seen is necessary for promoting French Second Language learning and bilingualism in all of Canada.
2020 CONCOURS VIRTUEL WINNERS
Core French
Grades 6/7
First Place: Xuanshi (Amy) Ren (British Columbia)
Second Place: Claire Anglesey (Ontario)
Third Place: Sofia Lebovics (Ontario)
Grades 8/9
First Place: Steven Luo (Ontario)
Second Place: Margaret Kuts (British Columbia)
Third Place: Alexander Bogdanoski (Ontario)
Grade 10
First Place: Emily Kruk (Manitoba)
Second Place: Rhea Gupta (Manitoba)
Third Place: Dominique Vega (British Columbia)
Grades 11/12
First Place: Maika Houde (British Columbia)
Second Place: Kyle Palacios (British Columbia)
Third Place: James Shi (Alberta)
French Immersion
Grade 6
A
First Place: Sohum Kapoor (Ontario)
Second Place: Dhaya Sudhakar (British Columbia)
Third Place: Audrey Veinot (Nova Scotia)
B
First Place: Emily Jiang (Manitoba)
Second Place: Ariana Beaton (British Columbia)
Third Place: Alina Krasnoperova (British Columbia)
C
First Place: Maria Baraban (Manitoba)
Second Place: Morgan Patel (British Columbia)
Third Place: Mira Lazorek (Alberta)
Grade 7
A
First Place: Talib Ahmad (British Columbia)
Second Place: Rachel Arellano (Alberta)
Third Place: Catherine McCurrach (British Columbia)
B
First Place: Melody Mokhtari (British Columbia)
Second Place: James Harkness (Ontario)
Third Place: Kaila Kremski (Manitoba)
Grade 8
A
First Place: Ayaan Jeraj (British Columbia)
Second Place: Emma Anzarut (British Columbia)
Third Place: Siddhanth Nittala (Ontario)
B
First Place: Yasmin Mehrpooya (Nova Scotia)
Second Place: Xavier Wallace (British Columbia)
Third Place: Sappho Thompson (Nova Scotia)
Grade 9
A
First Place: Juliana Kudinda (British Columbia)
Second Place: Alexandria Beer (Ontario)
Third Place: Kaylee Lantz (Ontario)
B
First Place: Alexis Cloet (British Columbia)
Second Place: Adriana Power (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Third Place: Ashbani Kaur (Ontario)
Grade 10
A
First Place: Monika Arcadi (British Columbia)
Second Place: Emma Liagridonis (Ontario)
Third Place: Anastasiya Ishchook (Manitoba)
B
First Place: Rachael Moores (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Second Place: Alice Lee (British Columbia)
Third Place: Emma Lucas (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Grade 11
A
First Place Mihai Covaser (British Columbia)
Second Place: Carmen Golnaraghi (British Columbia)
Third Place: Marina Kim (British Columbia)
B
First Place: Julia Sharobim (Ontario)
Second Place: Yusha Dulkina (Ontario)
Third Place: Simone Saini (British Columbia)
Grade 12
A
First Place: Lili (Myo Jin) Kim (British Columbia)
Second Place: William Barbour (Ontario)
Third Place: James Jiang (British Columbia)
B
First Place: Luka Roberts (British Columbia)
Second Place: Michael Salib (Ontario)
Third Place: Elisa Ghannai (Ontario)
Francophone
Grades 6/7
First Place: SophieJaxa Debicka (Manitoba)
Second Place: Lila Seroussi (British Columbia)
Third Place: Sophie Gallant (Prince Edward Island)
Grades 8/9/10
First Place: Juliette Seroussi (British Columbia)
Second Place: Chloe Zhu (British Columbia)
Third Place: Océanne Kahanyshyn-Fontaine (Alberta)
Grades 11/12
First Place: Aina Rabesoa (British Columbia)
Second Place: Elise Therrien (British Columbia)
Third Place: Nicole Haim (Ontario)
Contact: Betty Gormley, Executive Director
Canadian Parents for French (Ontario)
bgormley@on.cpf.ca