One Kamloops student’s recent victory shines a light on two facts about Kamloops.
First, the city is home to a strong and well-spoken Francophone community. Second, the youth of that community are knowledgeable and are being taught the art of public speaking from a young age.
Maia Manshadi’s speech on lowering the voting age in Canada won her the Francophone grade seven category at the B.C. and Yukon concours d’art oratoire, which is Canada’s French public speaking contest.
Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow.com
She is a grade seven student at l’école Collines d’or, the only Francophone school in the city.
“I was super proud of myself. I was super surprised that I won,” Manshadi said. “I was quite nervous because there were quite a few kids over there from all around B.C. and Yukon who came to compete.”
The speech contest features students from across B.C. and Yukon who speak all levels of French, and Manshadi won in the group for those with highest language comprehension.
Despite her initial nerves, Manshadi worked extremely hard to improve her skills by the time she got to the competition in Vancouver.
“I would sit in front of the mirror and watch my body language,” she said. “I practised by recording myself, so instead of listening to music on the car ride there I would talk with my voice that I recorded and that helped me memorize.”
Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNow.com
The competition was part of a class project. All of the intermediate students at l’école Collines d’or wrote a speech, less than three minutes long, then competed at the regional level.
Her classmate Kacie Long took second place in the Francophone grade six level with her speech about the academic competencies of students.
The topics of the speeches go to show that the students are well-versed in the world surrounding them.
“Me and my friends, we’re not involved in politics, but we can have a constructive conversation about it,” said 13-year-old Manshadi.
Clearly she is telling the truth, because her arguments that the legal voting age should be lowered to 16 were enough to convince the judges that her speech was better than the best other students her age.
“Our generation is becoming more mature and intelligent,” Manshadi said. “Sixteen is the age where they get responsibilities, like getting a driver’s license or emancipation, so maybe they could also be able to vote.”
With the pending federal election, Manshadi says she would vote if she had the opportunity, and she hopes more youth with the option to vote would increase the voter turnout. Only 58.8 per cent of registered voters cast their ballots in the 2011 federal election.
“In class they learn about what is going on in politics so they are more updated,” she explained. “I hope a younger population would be happy to participate.”
She says she hopes to compete in the speech contest again next year. The prize for the provincial level is $50 and a medal, but for students in grade 12 can go on to compete at the national level where there is prize money and a trip to the national capital on the line.
