L.A. Matheson Secondary School Partnership

L.A. Matheson Secondary School is part of the Surrey School District, in British Columbia.

The school works with CIES on projects relating to Punjabi literature and student exposure to Punjabi culture. It does this through the Dhahan Prize Youth Awards and student exchanges between Canada and India.

In addition to the above, CIES financially supports the Indigenous program at L.A. Matheson, as part of its commitment to support truth and reconciliation.

In 2017, The Dhahan Prize Youth Award was launched as a partnership program between CIES and L.A. Matheson. The Youth Award is an off-shoot of The Dhahan Prize (also run by CIES). It recognizes excellence in Punjabi literature across the world. The youth-based initiative aims to promote Punjabi literature among youth of Punjabi heritage, or any youth who study the Punjabi language in a school in British Columbia.

L.A. Matheson and CIES work together to:

• Create rubrics for the award
• Vet submissions
• Promote the prize among other schools
• Coordinate ceremonies

L.A. Matheson also donates its facilities to host the ceremonies.

Then, in 2019, CIES led the development of a sister school exchange program between L.A. Matheson and Guru Nanak Mission Public School in Dhahan Kaleran, Punjab. Guru Nanak Mission Public School is also supported by CIES donations.

L.A. Matheson and CIES worked together to set:

• Criteria
• Budgets
• Activities

For a two-to-three-week learning trip.

The exchange program came to a temporary halt due to COVID-19 restrictions, but hopes to continue in the near future.