Student Awards

Background:

In 2004, the Manitoba School Boards Association established a Student Citizenship Award program for public school students in Manitoba. Six individual regional awards and one provincial group award are presented annually. There are no age or grade restrictions on these awards. All students in regular attendance in the K-12 program at a Manitoba public school are eligible.

The Awards recognize students who demonstrate their commitment to the values of citizenship through volunteer service to their community, involvement in citizenship or character building organizations, participation in student government programs or activities, or motivating others to actions which benefit the community. These students all share one common trait: an empathy and selflessness that makes them put the needs of others first, and a desire to make their communities and world better places for everyone.

Region 1 Recipient: Marian Juce, Hamiota Collegiate, Park West School Division

Marian Juce is a grade 12 student at Hamiota Collegiate in the Park West School Division. Although she is not a member of her school’s student council, she is an active and willing volunteer, helping out at the council-sponsored school barbeque and running the after-school canteen at school sporting events. Marian was an integral part of the school’s We Scare Hunger Campaign, and served as a liaison between the school and the local food bank, where she works as a volunteer. Marian is also a volunteer math tutor for a grade five student, and is a member of the school’s golf team.

In addition to her work at the local food bank, Marian is also involved with the Seniors Council. She spends four to five hours a week, organizing events such as handi-transit tours and movie nights, or just taking time to share conversation over a cup of tea, go for a walk, or play cards. She also describes herself as a

regular fixture at several arenas, where she helps with multiple skating programs, sharing her passion for skating with younger youth and helping them discover the same joy in the sport that she feels.

Marian’s school sponsor spoke of her vast knowledge base and intelligence, her strength of character that allows her to stand up for what she believes in, and her high level of commitment to her community. Her letter of support from the Hamiota Seniors Council spoke of her extremely large heart, her willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and her natural ability to brighten the day for those that needed it most.

Marian herself defines a good citizen as someone who makes a positive difference. In her words, “it’s all about the joy they share and willingness they have to help, always with a smile on their face, never asking for anything in the return.”

Marian’s school sponsor spoke of her vast knowledge base and intelligence, her strength of character that allows her to stand up for what she believes in, and her high level of commitment to her community. Her letter of support from the Hamiota Seniors Council spoke of her extremely large heart, her willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and her natural ability to brighten the day for those that needed it most.

Region 2 Recipient: Michaela Jade Epp, W.C. Miller Collegiate, Border Land School Division

Michaela Epp is a student at W.C. Miller Collegiate in the Border Land School Division, where she is an accomplished musician, having performed in both the vocal jazz and chamber choir groups. She has also represented her class on the student council, served as a peer tutor, and worked on the school magazine, Ellipsis.

Michaela is extremely active in her community. Each day after school, she spends time with a girl with special needs, playing games, engaging in conversation, and generally being a friend. Michaela has volunteered for the Rhineland Food Bank, and helps out some of her community’s more elderly residents as the opportunity arises, raking leaves, shoveling snow, carrying groceries, or filling whatever need she can. She spends a day each Christmas making and delivering Christmas hampers, and has spent a week working in a

Chicago soup kitchen and running day programs for inner city children.

Michaela’s school sponsor noted that she is not a person who seeks out recognition for her efforts, whether in her academics, extracurricular activities, or community involvement. Rather, she instinctively knows the value of taking the time to step outside herself, and to focus on the needs around her. Her community sponsor reinforced this trait in Michaela by noting that she is concerned with social justice issues, and issues of peace and reconciliation. Part of her desire to help out at the food bank, he noted, comes from a desire to ensure that all community members have access to affordable food.

Michaela sums up her inspiration this way. “If everyone only thought of themselves, life would be unpleasant. The world as it is is often a sad, angry place. I cannot imagine what it would be like without people who hold good citizenship as important. I feel we are here to work together and help one another, and I continue living my life expressing that belief.”skating with younger youth and helping them discover the same joy in the sport that she feels.

Marian’s school sponsor spoke of her vast knowledge base and intelligence, her strength of character that allows her to stand up for what she believes in, and her high level of commitment to her community. Her letter of support from the Hamiota Seniors Council spoke of her extremely large heart, her willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and her natural ability to brighten the day for those that needed it most.

Region 3 Recipient: Shania Sveinson, Gimli High School, Evergreen School Division

Shania Sveinson is a student at Gimli High School in the Evergreen School Division, where she has grown into a committed and motivated leader. She is secretary on the Evergreen School Division Student Council, which brings together students from three high schools to explore ways of improving student engagement. Shania has also served on her school’s student council as treasurer.

Shania is an active member of the Social Justice Club, which focuses on bettering the community, whether by collecting food for the local food bank or supporting the work of other community groups. The club’s most recent accomplishment was raising enough money to purchase 20 goats to send to their sponsor child’s community in Ecuador.

She is also a member and frequent leader of meetings of the Youth Community Partnership. For the past few years, that group has been focusing its attention on fair trade. Gimli is a fair-trade certified town, and the group wants to ensure that it lives up to that billing. The group has organized events to educate the community about what fair trade is, and how people could live the fair trade lifestyle. The school group was so passionate about this ideal that it inspired the town to rejuvenate its own fair trade committee, on which Shania serves as a youth representative.

Shania noted in the essay that accompanied her application that this year, she has really understood the meaning of citizenship as something you work hard to achieve over the course of your adolescence. To her, it means caring about the community you come from, the school you come from, and the people who helped you get there. She went on to say that one of her toughest challenges was finding the confidence to take charge to make a change, but that over the years, she has grown as a person and found that confidence.

Shania was also the recipient of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities George Harbottle Memorial Award.

Region 4 Recipient: Corinne Gusnoski, Gillam School, Frontier School Division

Corinne Gusnoski is an extremely active member of the Gillam School community in Frontier School Division. She has dedicated hundreds of hours to student council activities, doing everything from printing custom t-shirts for the Frontier Games to painting banners, to making pizza to serve at local community suppers. In her own words, her contributions have ranged from brainstorming ideas to doing the dirty work. Her fundraising efforts have supported both local initiatives, such as the purchase of equipment for early years students in her school, and international causes, such as the school’s adopted village in Haiti.

Corinne’s school sponsor describes her as one of the driving forces behind the school’s commitment to community and citizenship, having pushed for the establishment of a charity committee and leading the school’s Koats for Kids

drive that saw 10 boxes of winter wear collected and shipped to the Winnipeg charity.

Corinne offers free fiddle lessons to younger students in her school. She works daily to raise awareness about both global and local issues. She is described as hard-working and dedicated to every task she undertakes, and a future world-changer. Corinne has found an outlet for her philanthropic nature as a We Day volunteer, serving on the seating team, making kits, and helping with clean up. We Day also inspired Corinne to travel to Nicaragua this past summer, using her own money to help advance community development projects in that country. While there, she dug out stumps, leveled dirt, made cement, laid bricks, and, perhaps most importantly, had her eyes opened to the reality of poverty, and how people can make a difference.

Corinne said in her application that she sees herself as a role model, and that one of her responsibilities as such is taking advantage of the opportunities with which she is presented.

Region 5 Recipient: Jamie Rakhra, Miles McDonnell Collegiate, River East Transcona School Division

Jamie Rakhra is an honours student in the International Baccalaureate program at Miles Macdonell Collegiate in the River East Transcona School Division. He is described in one of his sponsor letters as having outstanding leadership qualities, with a positive work ethic and a commitment to school and community involvement. He is a focused motivator who initiates projects through team effort and excellent organizational skills.

Jamie is a member of the Miles Macdonell Collegiate Youth in Philanthropy Committee, which runs through the Winnipeg Foundation. In that capacity, he is part of a team that has collected almost 300 boxes of gifts over the past year, which were donated to Samaritan’s Purse for distribution to less fortunate children in other parts of the world at Christmas. The Youth in Philanthropy team members are currently knitting toques which will be sold, with proceeds of

that initiative going to less fortunate families in its own community. Jamie is also co-chair of the Vietnam Orphan Committee, finding ways to raise money to support an orphanage in Southern Vietnam.

Jamie’s concern for the world around him also extends to the environment. He is currently working with another group to install solar panels on his school, an initiative that he started with a group of friends. Beyond bringing the project to a successful conclusion in his own school, Jamie is hoping to inspire other students with this initiative, believing that it can serve as a model for others as they explore possible undertakings in their own communities.

In addition to his efforts at school, Jamie also takes his volunteering into the community. Last year, he and some friends organized a pancake breakfast in support of a hospital in Punjab, India, which raised approximately $1000. He has volunteered at Concordia Hospital, the YMCA, and the Elmwood Kildonan Pool, as well as for many one-time events. Jamie believes that by volunteering, he has become a greater leader within his community, and

Region 6 Recipient: Ramona Harper, Strathcona School, Winnipeg School Division

Ten-year old Ramona Harper, a student at Strathcona School in the Winnipeg School Division, is this year’s youngest citizenship award recipient, but her youth is certainly not reflected in the level of her accomplishments.

At school, Ramona is an active member of the Girls Club, which works to enable all Strathcona girls to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Ramona is a strong leader of this group, demonstrating positive energy, respect and kindness to all, and creating an inclusive environment. As an active participant in the Ralph Brown Community Centre Community Garden, where she developed an increased environmental awareness and a commitment to the values of stewardship, Ramona helps nurture the earth. She is participating in a school-wide character-building project based on the Seven Sacred Teachings, where she has already been awarded

certificates for humility, courage and honesty. And somehow, she still finds time for school patrols, violin club, soccer club, art club, knitting club . . . the list goes on.

Ramona’s community commitments include weekly rallies at Meet Me at the Bell Tower in Winnipeg’s north end, where, in the words of Michael Redhead Champagne, founder of the movement and a past student citizenship award winner himself, she “demonstrates an immense leadership capacity that is contagious to others.” Her commitment to the rights of Aboriginal peoples is evident in her participation in Idle No More rallies, while her concern for individuals in Aboriginal communities has made clear when she collected hundreds of books to send to her home reserve of St. Theresa Point.

In her essay, Ramona told us that she believes that she is a good person, and that, as an Aboriginal girl, she is making a change in her home community, her school, and her family.

Group Award RecipientHawks for Change, Strathclair School, Park West School Division

The Hawks for Change is a group of five high school students from Strathclair School in the Park West School Division who have united against social injustice for six years, and who have made being good local and global citizens part of their lives.

The girls—Grace Kang, Shaylyn Lamb, Jessica Arnfinson, Robyn Gerrard, and Lisa Rystephanuk—

began their mission to be exceptional citizens by volunteering within their own community. They took part in school and student council fundraisers and events, community suppers, fundraisers for local and global charities, and planned campaigns to raise awareness for social justice issues among youth in their school. As they became more aware of social issues and more passionate about their cause, they began to expand their range.

They began speaking at conferences, volunteering at homeless shelters and care homes, and spearheading larger campaigns such as the Vow of Silence and clothing drives, all while working jobs, playing sports, and maintaining good grades in school.

These five young women spent their free time serving at events, making videos for social issues, entertaining the elderly, planning random acts of kindness, and writing encouraging letters to the staff at their school. Their idea was to give back as much as they possibly could. The group was rewarded for their years of perseverance when one member won a trip to volunteer overseas through We Day 2011, and she was able to take all her friends with her to continue their work in India.

The Hawks for Change summed up their attitude beautifully in the citizenship essay that formed part of their nomination. “Citizenship was never a mountain of responsibilities for us; it was the grand privilege of being part of something greater than ourselves and it gave us immense joy to serve our community any way we could.”

(left to right): Shaylyn Lamb, Lisa Rystephanuk, The Honourable Nancy Allan, Minister of Education (presenter) and Grace Kang. Missing from photo: Jessica Arnfinson and Robyn Gerrard.