Third-place finish in his division, only person from his region to place in top-three in any category.

Miles Green, a Grade 8 student at Vernon's W.L. Seaton Secondary School, placed third in his category at the Concours d'art oratoire, a longstanding public speaking competition for youth who are learning French in school.

The event, hosted by the Canadian Parents for French B.C. and Yukon (CPF), was held Saturday, May 3, at Simon Fraser University's Surrey campus.

Close to 200 students from across B.C. and Yukon, representing school districts through the province and territory, competed.

Green was in the Early Immersion 8 category, and placed third for his speech, Why Nuclear Weapons Should Be Banned, or, pourquoi les armements nucleaires doivent etre interdits.

Green was the only student from the Okanagan Valley to place top-three in any of the 23 different divisions.

"The competition is a great way to honour the students' many hours of hard work and to celebrate official language bilingualism in Canada," said CPF on its website.

The contest is open to students in every province and territory and in a wide range of age/grade categories and French abilities. Thousands of students participate every year in communities big and small, for the opportunity to win prizes or scholarships to post-secondary institutions.

Students first work with their teachers to select topics and prepare their speeches. They then present their speeches at the classroom level and move on to district or regional competitions. The winners of district or regional competitions move to the provincial semi-finals.

Grade 11 and 12 students who place first in each of the categories move on to the Virtual National Finals.

Close to $8,000 in cash prizes was awarded to top-performing students.