The World Languages Organization is headed by a dedicated and passionate team committed to the promotion of second-language acquisition and multiculturalism across Canada. Take a look below to find out more about each member of our team.

James Liao
Grade 12
President
“I am the president of the World Languages Organization. My responsibilities consist of overseeing the progress of the organization, developing new projects and initiatives and helping to establish a World Languages Week or language and culture clubs at other schools.”
“Coming from three vastly different cultural backgrounds, I am very passionate about world languages because I recognize the importance of diversity in a school’s community. As part of a multicultural community, I feel privileged and lucky to be able to meet people from so many different countries and learn from them. Many of the most interesting conversations I have had with people from around the globe revolve around the idea of identity. Having a discussion about diversity may not be the easiest, but it is definitely one of the most meaningful experiences that I have had.”
“My vision for the organization moving forward in the first year is to help at least 10 schools to establish a World Languages Week or language and culture clubs. However, our long-term goal would be to spread our love for world languages and cultures across Canada. I sincerely hope to see more high schoolers interested in exploring their own cultures and learning about other cultures or languages.”

Brandon Sambrano
Grade 12
Vice-President
“In my role as vice-president, I collaborate with the president to develop new projects for the organization, work directly with different schools to implement language and culture events and clubs and assist in the overlooking and managing of the organization as a whole.”
“Being extremely interested in modern languages and linguistics, and also recognizing the importance of multiculturalism and multilingualism, I believe that the World Languages Organization can provide a great means through which linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as second-language acquisition, can be promoted throughout Canadian society.”
“Through this organisation, I would like to spread awareness about world languages and cultures in Canadian society, specifically in Canadian schools. Additionally, I would like to see educational institutions become more cognizant and encouraging of the great linguistic and cultural diversity of their student body.“

Amirreza Modaressanavi
Grade 11
Head of Information Technology and Social Media
“As Head of Information and Technology, I supervise a group of coders to solve issues on the website and to update it every week.”
“Being from Iran, I have not only learned Persian as my mother tongue but also Arabic and English since I was 6 years old. I like the way languages and cultures are related and I am very passionate about multiculturalism. In my opinion, culture without language does not have meaning and neither does language without culture. My personal travelling experiences have made me even more interested in foreign languages. In Germany and Switzerland, I started learning German and found it easy to acquire.”
“I really want to promote multiculturalism in Upper Canada College and even in bigger communities. I want to help this organization to provide this opportunity to everyone who is passionate about world languages.”

Owen Meunier
Graduated
Public Relations Chief Advisor
“As Public Relations Chief Advisor, I am responsible for connecting with local organizations and educational institutions in the GTA to promote World Languages Week and provide any assistance and necessary resources to external parties.”
“Being from a small francophone town in Northern Ontario, I was eager to see the world and experience different cultures. My quest for cultural diversity made me understand the importance of language in a culture and how the two intertwine. Through my world travels, I started learning Spanish and German and eventually became fluent by taking advanced classes. As I spend my summers on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, I decided to learn Italian in order to fully immerse myself in the culture and better connect with the locals.”
“I want to build a strong relationship with other schools so that they are able to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to showcase cultural diversity. Moreover, I want to expose students to the history of language and how it has evolved overtime.”

Sahir Farooq
Grade 12
Head of Design
“I am the Lead Designer for this organization. I help design posts for our social media.”
“Raising awareness about world languages and spreading them contributes to diversity around the globe and also has individual benefits.”
“I want to achieve diversity and a greater sense of acceptance for all people in different places.”

Kanishka Khatri
Grade 12
Co-Head of Social Media
“As Social Media Lead, I help spread the word about the World Languages Organization, and language and culture learning via social media. This is important because social media is the best mode of communication for our generation.”
“I speak 3 languages fluently, and study 2 others. In addition, I believe it is important to communicate in different ways, to become better global citizens.”
“I would like to achieve everything from exciting speakers at assembly, to Taco Tuesdays at UCC, to spreading our love for languages to other schools.”

Daniel Botros
Grade 11
Co-Head of Communications
“I am essentially the writer for the World Languages Organization. I try to keep the student body aware of the actions of our organization and also emphasize the significance of linguistic diversity in our school and the world as a whole.”
“I think that linguistic diversity is severely under-appreciated in our current society. Through this organization, I hope that many other people within the UCC community and other GTA schools will be able to see the significance of this diversity. Lastly, and most importantly, my passion for World Languages is driven by its ability to combat stereotypes and xenophobia.”
“Oftentimes, people view diversity as a sign of weakness and corruption. However, my primary objective in this organization is to educate the younger generation that diversity can be extremely powerful. This is especially true when we are constantly reading articles in the news that describe violent outbursts against minorities. Hopefully, by raising awareness for this issue, UCC can lead by example in our local community and beyond.”

Henry Wang
Grade 11
Co-Head of Communications
“I’ve grown up in the midst of an incredibly diverse city and I’ve met people of all kinds of backgrounds. Each culture has its own little quirks to discover, and I believe languages play a significant role in educating everybody about them. Although I was born in China, I only lived there for two years and I feel like I’ve lost a bit of myself because I haven’t been able to immerse myself with my heritage. I know that many people are in similar situations as me, and I want that to change; everybody should be able to learn about their culture.”
“My goal is for everybody to be able to reconnect with their culture, and if they already have, for them to learn more about other cultures because they are all truly unique. I want to communicate with other schools in the TDSB and across the GTA so that students like me will be able to live in a more linguistically diverse environment.“