“Good morning! Bonjour!”
One of the parts of my job that I particularly enjoy is morning bus supervision. Seeing the students arrive and welcoming them to another day at École Broxton Park School is a very relaxing and satisfying experience for me. I also enjoy speaking to the students in both English and French as we are a French Immersion school. I am still awed by their level of French after studying for only a few years.
One of the parents shared with me at the start of the year that they were surprised to hear French being spoken in Alberta. For me, I feel that it is important to be able to offer our students the chance to learn a second language; especially to the degree of fluency that our French Immersion program offers.
Others see the same importance. Recently, in an article for the Vancouver Sun, the chairman of the Canada-India Foundation, Barj S. Dhahan stated that investing in English-French bilingualism makes for a better Canada. A Globe and Mail editorial suggested that being bilingual or trilingual is an investment that “will yield dividends over a person’s lifetime”.
When I walk through our school I am proud to find Anglophone students speaking, listening, writing and reading in French. I have seen the benefits that they will receive throughout their lives of being able to speak two languages.
Next time you are by our school, stop by and say “Hello! Salut!”.
Corey Haley is one of the Assistant Principals and a French Immersion teacher at École Broxton Park School in Spruce Grove. He is a Parkland French Immersion grad and a Francophile.
The values of learning more than one language are too many to count, but the greatest one I have found throughout my life as a Canadian born and raised in Alberta in a French speaking family and learning English as a second language and then later, as an educator and administrator, is the ability to connect with more people on a personal level. Language is part of culture and culture is an integral part of who we are as individuals and as members of community. I’ve appreciated the ability to be fluent in both languages and thank my parents and teachers for the gift of languages that has helped me to serve others throughout my life. It is an honor now to help others access instruction in a second language so that they can reap the same benefits in their lives.