The Citizenship Prize competition, open for the first time to all schools where French is taught in both classes 5/6 and 9/10, aims to reward and encourage individuals or groups for their civic contributions. , community and public interest. In the past, the award was only open to bilingual schools, but this year it has been expanded to all schools where French is taught.
The actions rewarded may be acts of personal courage, exceptional human interventions in favor of others, the establishment and/or continuation of projects for the benefit of others and the community at large. These may be, for example, individual actions or collective projects with concrete objectives in terms of the environment, multigeneration, solidarity or egalitarianism.
First prize for Years 5/6 went to Leyla Mackenzie, a Year 5 student at Aranda Primary School in Canberra. Leyla regularly volunteers at a soup kitchen run by Helping ACT to support the homeless and less fortunate. She decided to do it on her own initiative, because she wanted to provide support to the less privileged. The committee was very impressed by his work, his dedication and his dynamism.
Leyla is also very involved in other school activities, including helping younger students, and is part of the school's G-Force, which aims to encourage environmental responsibility not only at the school, but also in the community as a whole. She attended the event with her father, Jason Mackenzie, and her teacher, Myriam Davies.
Aiden Qerba and Zara Routh (school captains) and AriTokoragi and Joelle Milne (school vice-captains) were present to receive the award alongside parents and teachers.
The committee awarded a second prize in the same category to Taren Point Public School, NSW, for the work of its Year 5/6 class. This class is to be commended for their exemplary intergenerational activities, including visiting nursery schools to speak to prospective pupils, as well as visiting a nearby care home. The residents of the retirement home are always delighted to see the students participating in discussions, performances and other activities with them.
The award for years 9/10 was given to Anita Kumar from Canberra Grammar School. Anita is a remarkable example of volunteering and supporting the invisible people in our community. She worked tirelessly at the Red Cross point of sale, both in sales and administration, she gave English as a second language lessons to foreign students using equipment she had. -even developed and she actively participated in sending letters to elderly people, including in French-speaking Canada.
Anita attended the event with her parents and her teacher Sophie Lerat.
The awards ceremony took place during a cocktail organized by the Consul General, Martin Juillard, in the presence of more than 50 guests, including members of ANMONM, teachers, students and parents.
We would like to thank the French Consulate for its support, in particular Consul General Martin Juillard, Kanokwan Towton, Yannick Gacoin of DPPP – Design, Print and Pre-Press, our long-time sponsor, and Philippe Mady of Dynamic Wines for the wine. We would also like to pay tribute to the members of our panel, Dominique Barbeau, Sabine Duffy-Gilbert and Brian Hillman, who generously devoted many hours to this project.
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