Although I won't be getting into the reasons behind my lack of confidence in the NDP just yet, I will post the letter I wrote to the editor of the internationally-renowned North Shore News regarding potential cutbacks to the French-Immersion program in North Vancouver. I had much more to say, but you can't really go on and on in a letter to the editor like you can in a blog...here it is:
Dear Editor,
As a graduate of the North Vancouver French Immersion program, I was deeply concerned over the proposal to merge the three existing French-Immersion programs into only one or two, as described in an article by Jane Seyd on November 19th.
Ann Tarves of the NVSD argues that the ‘critical mass’ which would be created through such centralization would benefit the students with a greater selection of courses that would not have been available otherwise. Unfortunately, she does not seem to recognize that although they may be available to those students fortunate enough to remain in the program, there would also be a significant number of students who would no longer have access to the schools in which the program is to be offered.
While merging the existing three programs into two may not be avoidable, for Balmoral is likely to close due to unrelated inefficiencies, limiting the program to only one secondary school in North Vancouver would be disastrous. As a graduate of Argyle Secondary, and of McGill University this June, I benefited extensively from the unparalleled dedication and creativity demonstrated by each and every French-Immersion teacher with whom I spent my high-school years. As a student representative on panels encouraging parents of children in kindergarten and grade-seven to either enroll or keep their children in Immersion, I stressed the obvious as well as the indirect benefits of fluency in Canada’s second official-language. After spending four linguistically enriching years here in Montreal, I would argue these points with even more veracity if I were to sit on a similar panel today. Aside from benefiting from the small class sizes we enjoyed as high-school students, French-Immersion has opened up job opportunities in the public service and in francophone countries around the world; it has enabled me to participate in innumerable conversations and events with francophone students from Quebec and overseas; and it will undoubtedly be the key to countless opportunities and experiences in the future.
Denying potential and current French-immersion students access to such opportunities for the sake of saving a few dollars would not only be detrimental for their future development as well-rounded Canadians, but would also reflect negatively on the intentions of the School Board as well as the priorities of the District itself. Pierre Trudeau entrenched bilingualism in our constitution for a reason, and I sincerely hope Ms. Tarves realizes what that was.
Sincerely,
Per Unheim
Montreal, Quebec
And for your visual pleasure, take a look at these signs you may see while strolling around the North Shore.
Dear Editor,
As a graduate of the North Vancouver French Immersion program, I was deeply concerned over the proposal to merge the three existing French-Immersion programs into only one or two, as described in an article by Jane Seyd on November 19th.
Ann Tarves of the NVSD argues that the ‘critical mass’ which would be created through such centralization would benefit the students with a greater selection of courses that would not have been available otherwise. Unfortunately, she does not seem to recognize that although they may be available to those students fortunate enough to remain in the program, there would also be a significant number of students who would no longer have access to the schools in which the program is to be offered.
While merging the existing three programs into two may not be avoidable, for Balmoral is likely to close due to unrelated inefficiencies, limiting the program to only one secondary school in North Vancouver would be disastrous. As a graduate of Argyle Secondary, and of McGill University this June, I benefited extensively from the unparalleled dedication and creativity demonstrated by each and every French-Immersion teacher with whom I spent my high-school years. As a student representative on panels encouraging parents of children in kindergarten and grade-seven to either enroll or keep their children in Immersion, I stressed the obvious as well as the indirect benefits of fluency in Canada’s second official-language. After spending four linguistically enriching years here in Montreal, I would argue these points with even more veracity if I were to sit on a similar panel today. Aside from benefiting from the small class sizes we enjoyed as high-school students, French-Immersion has opened up job opportunities in the public service and in francophone countries around the world; it has enabled me to participate in innumerable conversations and events with francophone students from Quebec and overseas; and it will undoubtedly be the key to countless opportunities and experiences in the future.
Denying potential and current French-immersion students access to such opportunities for the sake of saving a few dollars would not only be detrimental for their future development as well-rounded Canadians, but would also reflect negatively on the intentions of the School Board as well as the priorities of the District itself. Pierre Trudeau entrenched bilingualism in our constitution for a reason, and I sincerely hope Ms. Tarves realizes what that was.
Sincerely,
Per Unheim
Montreal, Quebec
And for your visual pleasure, take a look at these signs you may see while strolling around the North Shore.
posted by Per at 9:13 p.m.
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