The Brock-Niagara French Contest/le Concours de français Brock-Niagara is 38 years old.

Beginning in 1978, this long-standing contest provides an opportunity for Grade 11 and 12 students of the Niagara Region to demonstrate their French language skills through a variety of activities.

This year’s contest takes place on Wednesday, May 11, at Brock University. The opening ceremony will be held at 8 a.m. in TH 242. Students are registered in one of three language categories: 1) core French, 2) intensive French, which includes students who study a number of subjects in the French language, and 3) Francophone, for our French first-language students.

The participants rotate through five different and challenging language activities that have been developed to test language proficiency.

French language student monitors from Brock will accompany the contestants throughout the morning and will offer guided tours of the Brock campus. This interaction with Brock students will offer the high school students insight to campus life.

After lunch, students will attend a French performance by Dufflebag Theatre in room TH 325.

The high school participants will be recognized during the awards ceremony that begins at 2 p.m. in Pond Inlet. Major category winners will receive monetary prizes made possible through the generosity of Brock and the school boards, as well as local businesses and community organizations, many of which represent the Francophone community in Niagara.

For more information on this year’s Brock-Niagara French Contest/le Concours Brock-Niagara, please contact Jennifer Jinks (Jennifer.Jinks@dsbn.org), Roxanne Rees (Roxanne.Rees@ncdsb.com), Jean Ntakirutimana (jntakiru@brocku.ca), Nigel Lezama (nlezama@brocku.ca) or Astrid Heyer (aheyer@brocku.ca).