Editor:
Open letter to Manu Madhok, Superintendent of School District 91
I am writing this letter in support for French Immersion program provided by School District 91 in Burns Lake. The following are a few reasons why I support the French Immersion program even though neither of my children attended the program. I sincerely regret my children did not attend; however, the program started the year after my eldest started
kindergarten and by then we had established our family at a different school.
1. Canada has two official languages: English and French.
2. Burns Lake is a small town located in British Columbia within this great country of Canada. As part of this great country, Burns Lake should have French Immersion available. It’s an excellent way to keep Canada connected throughout its provinces.
3. Studies have proven time and time again that children who learn more than one language have better developed brains, with significantly more developed neural pathways. It doesn’t matter what languages the children learn, they should learn more than one. French Immersion delivered by the school district is an excellent vector in Burns Lake. Globally, British Columbia is behind the rest of the world linguistically. Many countries have two or more official languages.
4. Children who have a second or third language in Canada tend to do better in their lives as they have more access to more opportunities. If they have French, they automatically have more opportunities to work across Canada, as they are bilingual in the two official languages.
5. Burns Lake is centrally located in the West side of School District 91 and is ideally located to provide French Immersion for families who live in in the Village of Burns Lake and the smaller satellite communities of Decker Lake, Topley, Fraser Lake, Grassy Plains, Francois Lake, and Granisle and their respective surrounding areas. In fact, our French Immersion services large Electoral areas in our district. Anyone in these areas who wishes to have their child attend French Immersion lives within an hour and a half drive.
If this is taken away, the next townships that offer French Immersion are Smithers or Vanderhoof (an additional 1.5 hours away in opposite directions). Burns Lake is ideally situated to offer this valuable education to our students for the West side of School District 91. In comparison, the East side of School District 91, centrally located in Vanderhoof, services the satellite communities of Fort St. James and Fort Fraser, which are both within 45 minutes of Vanderhoof.
6. French Immersion is partially funded by the federal government as French is the second official language of Canada. It is less of a financial burden on our school district than the regularly offered programs, and in fact, many English-only classes at William Konkin Elementary get to benefit from that funding as well.
7. When families start their children in the French Immersion program, they tend to stay in the community to complete the program. That’s a commitment of 13 years.
8. Finally, having French Immersion available in Burns Lake has a number of spin-off benefits for our community.
a. People consider moving to Burns Lake because there is the option of French Immersion in our school district available.
b. Having the option here aids in keeping our property values at reasonable rates. It may seem disconnected, but it’s not. When services are removed from a community, it can have detrimental effects. For example, the hospital in Burns Lake removed its ability to allow births. I personally know of two families, as a result, who chose not to reside here just for that reason. Conversely, I also know of two families who chose to reside here because French Immersion was available in Burns Lake for their children. The connection is if people want to move to Burns Lake, it keeps our property values up and it encourages local business.
c. When people move to Burns Lake, they shop in our stores, attend local events, and become integrated members of our community. Having French Immersion available is a major draw for our area. It helps grow our village. I fully support the continuation of the French Immersion program provided by School District 91 in Burns Lake. The French Immersion program in Burns Lake has innumerable benefits for our students and our community, directly and indirectly. I have witnessed the benefits for many of our students who were fortunate to be a part of the program. They have continued on in Universities across the country and are now fully contributing members of society. Lets continue to build and grow our student body with this excellent education option; the French
Immersion program provided by our progressive and inclusive School District 91.
Yours sincerely,
M. Jean Vossen
A concerned citizen and long-term community member of Burns Lake