CPF BC & Yukon Chapter Representatives,

Enclosed is the May 2013 CRU. As always please forward this important information to your local chapter mailing lists, school contacts, local media, and partners. We encourage you to include additional stories and activities from your local chapter. One of the best ways to promote membership and recruit new volunteers is by effectively communicating the good work of our organization (at all levels) and the many resources available to support students and parents.                                                                                                                                       

Thank you for taking the time to help create French learning and cultural opportunities for students in your community. It's making a real difference.

Have a great summer!

Kirsty Peterson,CPF BC & Yukon Outreach Officer (outreach@cpf.bc.ca)

Photo: Ridge Meadows family barn dance

Chilliwack: Outreach Officer Kirsty Peterson has been spending some time in Chilliwack lately helping the Chilliwack Chapter after their school board voted no on the implementation of EFI in their district.  After much media coverage about the issue, one of the trustees has a sudden change of vote and made a motion to use the districts retained funds to start the program. After hearing words from parents, CPF and the president of the Fraser Valley francophone association, the board voted to pass the motion and implement EFI as soon as September 2014! Chilliwack Progress Article

Burnaby: Youth Director, Khue-Tu Nguyen attended Moscrop Secondary's "Au Revoir" ceremony and spoke on behalf of the CPF Branch to all the proud graduates and their families.

Tri-Cities: Kirsty has had the opportunity to attend 2 French Immersion 'Leaving Ceremonies" in Tri-Cities and speak to the French Immersion Grade 12s, and watched the LFI grade 6s stump one of the graduates in a quiz game they prepared for the event.

Squamish: Welcome to our newest chapter! The Sea to Sky district is one of only 3 districts in BC that has a Late Immersion entry point but no Early Immersion. Fortunately, the other 2 districts, Chilliwacl and Okanagan Skaha's school boards have decided to implement EFI, so that leaves Sea to Sky as the only one left. Parents in Squamish have formed a Chapter and are eager to work towards French Immersion for their kids.

Ridge Meadows: See photo of the Ridge Meadows Family Barn Dance, where families got together to dance, speak French and listen to the music of Alouest!

Early this month, 26 delegates from across the Interior Chapters gathered for the Interior Regional Conference in Kelowna. Delegates had the opportunity to network, share stories and meet the BC/Yukon staff and board. Some of the workshops delegates had the opportunity to participate in included Cultural Activities in the Region, Experience Advocating for FSL Programming, Inclusion in French Language Educational Programming, How to Run an Effective Chapter, How to Help your Children When You Do Not Speak French, Importance of French Advisory Committees and Community Gaming Grants. 

Chapters were excited for the opportunity to learn new skills and meet executive members from other Chapters near their own. We look forward to seeing how these Chapters will join forces and work together in the near future. Thanks for attending!

Everyone’s favorite time of year is coming up August 1st! Please have one designated person, usually the secretary, treasurer or president, submit your 2012-2013 Chapter Reporting.  You can view what you need to submit online at: Chapter Reporting

Every chapter is required to submit ALL of the requested documents to be considered active and in good-standing.  This information helps our office understand how to help you, and we really appreciate the time you put in to preparing it.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our office at outreach@cpf.bc.ca, 1-800-665-1222 or 778-329-9115 ext. 315.

Chapter Support and Outreach Officer, Kirsty Peterson will be visiting chapters across the Island, Northern and Interior Chapters from July 15th-27th.

As Kirsty will not be in the office for much of July, she will be best contacted by email at outreach@cpf.bc.ca.

She has been busy booking meetings with reps from Victoria, Saanich, Sooke, Oceanside, Comox Valley, Campbell River, Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Terrace, Hazelton, Smithers, Burns Lake, Vanderhoof, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, Salmon Arm, Revelstoke and Kamloops. If your chapter is on this list and you have not yet connected with Kirsty please email her at: outreach@cpf.bc.ca. Unfortunately, because of budgetary and time contraints it is not possible to addadditional stops to this trip, but Kirsty looks forward to meeting with all of the chapters in upcoming fiscal years.

Conditional Funding Available for Reallocation! Send in your requests to Heather at projects@cpf.bc.ca

If your event has taken place, please submit your receipts, online evaluation and survey summary to Heather to get paid out! Can't remember the process? Missing forms? Check out the How to Document, or see online here: Sociocultural Grants

CPR BC & Yukon's website is getting a new look in June…
Our website address will be the same, but we old links will no longer work as we are moving to new CPF National hosted domain. Shoot us an email if something isn't quite right and bare with us as we work out the kinks in the next few months! Hopefully this site will be more user friendly for us all.

On May 19, after 19 months of planning and fundraising, 21 Grade 6/7 students and 9 parent chaperones left Quesnel for the Prince George airport.  From there they flew to Ottawa where they were met by their BrightSpark tour leader, Lindsay.  For the next 6 days, Lindsay guided them through the Parliament and Supreme Court in Ottawa, Vieux Montreal and the Biodome and Vieux Quebec and the Beaupre Coast.  The kids (and their parents!) had a great time and it was noted plusieurs fois just how good the students’ conversational French was.  I had at least 3 francophones tell me how impressed they were at our students’ ability to carry on a conversation in French – and they were even more excited when I told them we were from BC.

Some highlights from the trip for the students were:  the Montreal Biodome, the Sugar Shack we visited outside of Quebec City, les Galaries (a big shopping mall) in Quebec City, the hike up Mont Royal, the shopping in Vieux Quebec and the Martello Tower in Quebec City.  Being from a small town, I noticed the students enjoying the escalators in the airports a LOT!  (We don’t have any here, anywhere).  It was a great trip, and a good chance for our students to see how being bilingual offers some great job opportunities in the future.  I pointed out to a few students that the docents at the Parliament Buildings were basically students out of high school, or in their early years of university and said, “this could be you…”

Sarah Shipley, Quesnel chapter treasurer and parent

Join CPF Pacific Rim in Tofino for this one of a kind program! 

The CPF BC & Yukon AGM & Conference is set for November 1-3, 2013 in Richmond, BC.

Each Chapter is eligible to send one (1) subsidized Chapter delegate. Once your Chapter has chosen your delegate - typically by a decision at Chapter meeting - please have them complete and return the CPF Online Registration Form (Opening Soon!).

To help cover the cost of the AGM & Conference registration fee, the BC & Yukon Branch will cover your Chapter costs above $550 for your participation.  This fee will be covered if your Chapter successfully participates in the AGM in Richmond in November.

Check here for more updates soon! http://www.cpf.bc.ca/site3/index.php/events/agm

From June 13th to June 21st 2013,
The 24th Festival d'été francophone de Vancouver is celebrating "Accents of Francophonie".

Since 1990, every year in June, Le
Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver organizes the
Vancouver's summer festival, one of the most important cultural and musical francophone events in the west part of Canada. Discover more than a week of concerts under the banner of international francophone music.

« This year marks the 24th season of the Festival d'été francophone de Vancouver, and that means that the 25th anniversary in 2014 is fast approaching. But it doesn't mean we have to wait another year before celebrating things in grand style.  So we have taken every opportunity that has come our way to put together a program with the highest quality of performing artists and diversity of musical genres.  If there is one theme that runs through the different parts of the programming this year, it would have to be the many accents of Francophonie. »

http://www.lecentreculturel.com

This summer camp run through Le Centre allows children to practice their French in a fun environment with themed weeks and field trips!

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
All children from ages 6 to 12, francophone or currently attending a French core programme / French immersion school.

WHERE?
Le Centre Culturel Francophone de Vancouver: 1551 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver

WHEN?
The camp runs for 7 weeks, from July 2nd to August 16th, 2013. Activities are planned from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mon- day to Friday. A daycare service is available from 8 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 5 p.m.

COST?
Members of the Centre culturel francophone de Vancou- ver: $175/week and $155/week for weeks 1 and 6 due to holidays (July 1st and August 5th)
Non-members: $195/week and $175/week for weeks 1 and 6 due to holidays (July 1st and August 5th)
Daycare: $5/hour per child.

To register, please fill out the registration form and the medical form and return to Le Centre or email it to info@lecentreculturel.com