Discussions

It was 4:00 AM and I could not sleep. My brain came up with this solution for the French Milieu and French Immersion problem that is dividing the city and threatening the lives of the trustees running the school division.  
 
Am I inebriated on exhaustion and rambling or does this idea have merit?  
 
 
 
French Milieu School Option 7 (or whatever is the next highest number. I lost count.)  
 
I enrolled my daughter in the French Immersion program because Canada is a bilingual country and I wanted her to be able to function in both languages. My understanding of bilingual is to be able to switch from one language to the other and back again without hesitation. The community that has grown at New Era has taught and encouraged this ability in their students.  
 
My daughter was fourteen when she used this skill without even realizing it. She was with an English-speaking community group of teens waiting for an event to start when the father of a classmate approached. Knowing that French is his primary language, she greeted him and explained what the group was doing and asked about his daughter followed by proper departing phrases. When she turned back to her English friends, the astonished look on their faces and the question, “What did you say to that guy?” made her go back in her short term memory and recall that she had automatically used French because the other person was more comfortable with that language. The nine years she spent at New Era had developed this valuable skill.  
 
If the French Milieu program was offered, I do not believe I would enroll my child in it. It lacks the bilingual aspect that is so important to many Canadian parents.  
 
However, there are some parents who feel that there needs to be more French in their child’s life so the French Milieu School may appeal to them.  
 
I do not wish to argue which program is better. I think they both have their good points and the students they would serve have different needs.  
 
This option would be to offer both programs at separate locations.  
 
Rather than destroy what has developed at New Era, start a French Milieu School in an underutilized inner city school. For example, is there room at either George Fitton School or Betty Gibson School for the K-4 level of French Milieu School to be a part of? As the neighborhood ages and English enrollment drops, the French Milieu School would expand the next year to include grade five and the following year to include grade six, then grade seven and eight.  
 
The number of French students would be 60 to 100 the first year, and increasing to 200 to 250 over the next five years. When the conversion is complete, the students in grades seven and eight from New Era could be transferred to the French Milieu School and take Band, Home Economics, and Industrial Arts at Harrison Middle School or Earl Oxford School. This would allow the French Immersion program at New Era to expand in the lower grades without kicking the English students out.  
 
There will be over 1,000 Kindergarten to grade eight French students in the next few years and two locations seems like the only viable solution if the future is part of the equation. Rather than demand one program or the other, offer both and let the parents decide which one is best for their child.  
 
New Era School offers more than just an English and French program. The multicultural component of the students is celebrated. There are aboriginal lessons in drumming and dancing offered. I still have the deerskin and tuna can drum my daughter made in Kindergarten during one of the many events. Hosting the opening of the Lieutenant Governor’s Festival in 2006 highlighted the many ethnic groups that attend the school. Seeing everyone play together at recess is worth the missing French.  
 
 
 
Should I forward this idea to the Brandon Sun and school division?  
 
Edited by katwalk1909, 2009-03-14 06:22:42