Sumeet Kumar, a husband, a father, a Canadian Parent, and a now an avid CPF Volunteer, once shared how CPF Ontario played a significant role in advancing French learning for his daughter Aarohi. Sumeet and his wife Puja have been playing a significant role in advocating for their daughter and supporting CPF Ontario’s mission. They even drove the almost 15-hour drive from Thunder Bay to CPF Ontario’s Blue Mountain Family Event and AGM in 2022!

About two to three “covid” years ago, much longer than two to three typical years ago, Sumeet and Puja, his wife, wanted to put Aarohi their youngest daughter in full French Immersion, but hesitated. She was about to start Grade 3 French Immersion at Elsie MacGill Public School in Thunder Bay, Ontario with zero previous French experience. Believing strongly in their child’s abilities and really wanting her to have this bilingual advantage, and the opportunities to come, these newly-Canadian parents pushed for solutions.

Thinking that maybe a tutor could help, they started looking, and landed on the CPF website. They called Rosemary [Sutherland, Manager, Chapter Development and Outreach] asking about CPF programs and what could be done. Aarohi started in Reading Circle and Franco-Fun so that she experienced French twice a week while starting Immersion. “It was very helpful for her because it was learning through fun,” said Sumeet. “We spoke with Rosemary about possible tutoring on top of the CPF activities, so now she had French 3 times a week outside the classroom.”

By the time June of that school year came along, Aarohi surprised even her teacher with how well her progress went from zero French to a level 18 reading!

“We were so happy with how much she learned in just 1 year,” said the Kumars.

“The virtual one-on-one sessions, Franco-Fun activities, Reading Circles, Baking workshops, and the WebPals Program organized by CPF, along with constant encouragement provided by CPF teachers were key enablers that have been instrumental in my daughter’s ability to learn French as a new language,” said Sumeet. “I highly recommend the services offered by CPF to other parents who wish to support their kids journey to bilingualism.”

About His and Her Volunteering

When asked about his and his wife’s volunteering, Sumeet took no credit.

“Well, I don’t do very much, but my wife Puja joined the school as a lunch supervisor and made a really positive impact and connection with everyone there,” he said. “Puja is like a liaison between the school and Rosemary from CPF.” He explained that through a great communications tool called “Seesaw” the school was able to communicate with teachers, students and parents and keep them up to date with any programs CPF Ontario was offering for the students online.

“So I would get the CPF Ontario communiqué and then give it to Puja to share with the school,” said Sumeet. “Then the principal often posted CPF posters to promote these opportunities for the parents to register their kids in French practice.”

But as Rosemary will say: “That’s a great thing to do as a volunteer, to act as a conduit to the school so more CPF opportunities reach more parents and students!”

If you would like to find out more about volunteering, contact Rosemary Sutherland.