An Abbotsford student has been named one of eight Bilingual Young Leaders, a youth committee founded by French for the Future.
W.J. Mouat Secondary School Grade 11 student Seerat Waraich was one of two B.C. pupils named as part of the group.
The BYL is a two-year program made up of Canadians aged 16 to 22 who want to develop projects to help promote bilingualism.
Committee members meet once per year in person, and virtually several times per year to discuss and see their project(s) through to completion. In between meetings, the committee members stay connected to exchange ideas and work on their project(s). They devote about 10 hours per month to the committee’s activities.
Students were asked to apply online from Aug. 1 to 31 through the French for the Future website. They were chosen based on their volunteering experience and commitment to organizations, leadership experience and project ideas for the youth committee.
The @francaisavenir CBU program is an excellent way to practise French outside of the classroom.
— Le français pour l'avenir | French for the Future (@francaisavenir) September 17, 2022
Last year, among nearly 200 students, 91% of participants confirmed that they would recommend the program to their friends.https://t.co/luCiUWmHWg pic.twitter.com/CyURPhBYeQ
According to the French for the Future website, Waraich is passionate about the French language and has participated in many speech competitions, most notably CPF Art Oratoire where she qualified as a provincial finalist.
This passion led her to organize workshops, activities, and competitions for students to practice their French while also having fun. Her vision for Francophones in Canada is for everyone to be comfortable speaking French at a certain level and promoting the language through different, yet accessible means.
Members of the committee will receive training to help them develop their projects. The training will cover governance and project management.
This is the debut year for the committee and all members will be on the team for one year. After the one year members can be renewed, but each member can complete a maximum of a two-year term. French for the Future is supported by the Government of Canada.
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