Concours de français: Students in Rainbow Schools capture top honours

French Immersion students in Rainbow Schools captured top honours at the 2011 Concours de français. Ally Burgess of Lasalle Secondary School earned the highest overall score. Katarina Schwabe and Michael Richer of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School received a one-year bursary to Laurentian University.

Approximately 30 Grade 12 French Immersion students from Rainbow District School Board and the Sudbury Catholic District School Board participated in the Concours de français on May 20th. The event, organized by the Sudbury/Espanola/Manitoulin Modern Language Teachers’ Association, was held at the Alphonse Raymond Auditorium.

The Concours de français serves to promote and value French programs and to encourage students to continue studying French at the post-secondary level. The Concours assesses written and oral French as well as listening and reading skills.

For the written component, students read an article on a current issue and completed a comprehension test. They also wrote a letter to the editor. For the oral component, students spoke in front of a panel of judges. A team of teachers administered the tests.

Other award winners included:

Jasmine Moutsatsos, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School
Cecilia MacDonald, Marymount Academy
Sarah Kaelas, Marymount Academy
Kaitlin Richard, Lockerby Composite School
Zoé Laverdure, St. Benedict’s Catholic Secondary School
Alyssa Sabourin, Lasalle Secondary School
Isabella Izumi, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School
Lauren Harbottle, Lockerby Composite School
Ryan Filipovic, St. Charles College

The following students captured top honours in individual tests:


Writing (Épreuve écrite)
Gabriellle Dicaire Kelly, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School

Reading and Comprehension (Épreuve lecture/compréhension)
Arielle Bieniek, St. Benedict’s Catholic Secondary School

Verbal expression (Épreuve de l’expression orale)
Bailey Zeman, Marymount Academy

Listening (Épreuve de l’écoute)
Connor Boyce, Lockerby Composite School

The Concours de français benefits from tremendous community support, including the following sponsors – Laurentian University, Rainbow District School Board, Sudbury Catholic District School Board, Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, the Ontario Modern Language Teachers’ Association, the Sudbury and District Modern Language Teachers’ Association, Centre FORA and Collège Boréal.

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Media Contact:

Nicole Charette, Senior Advisor,
Corporate Communications and Strategic Planning,
Rainbow District School Board, 705-674-3171, ext. 7217.