First to finish six French years
Moving on: Grade 5s Jennifer Gullins, followed by Joey Guerra, parade out of the Bastion Elementary School gym during leaving ceremonies.
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Updated: July 08, 2009 5:05 PM
Leaving ceremonies at Bastion Elementary School always make for a special day but this year’s event on June 24 held even more significance for teachers, students and parents.
This particular group of Grade 5 students was the first to leave the school, having taken French Immersion since kindergarten. Combined with students taking studies in English only, they formed the largest graduating class the school has seen with about twice as many individuals as normal.
Graduates Tyson Chamberlain, Taigan Radomske and Jared Sharp spoke in English and in French, in front of the audience, recalling their favourite events of the last six years.
Taigan says she enjoys the unique feeling of being bilingual.
“I really like how we’re just different from the English (students),” she said, adding she was a bit nervous while making her address in French in front of the whole school. “It’s really fun for us to be able to use this for the rest of our lives. We’ll need it.”
It has been quite a journey so far for Shawnee Venables and her daughter Darian. They weren’t sure about enrolling in French Immersion when Darian was approaching school age, but it was her registration that gave the program its requisite 36th student to make it go ahead. They have no regrets about going the French route.
“I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s been awesome. Just great,” said Shawnee. “They’re completely fluent in French early on and the English side came no problem.”
Shawnee says she’s glad for the opportunities French Immersion will offer to Darian such as working and travelling.
For teachers at the school, working with these recent grads has been rewarding.
“There are a lot of leaders in this group,” said Grade 4/5 teacher Isabelle Gervais. “They’re a good group; they’ll do well in middle school. They’re ready and they’re focused.”
There is a group of students currently at Salmon Arm Secondary that will become the first French Immersion students to graduate high school but they took the late-entry option which starts in Grade 6.
They too will be perfectly fluent in French, but Gervais explained the added benefit of starting early.
“When they’re young, they have no inhibitions. It’s harder when you’re older. These students have grown up with this, it’s a part of their lives.”
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