The nominations for the Spirit of the
Capital Youth Awards have now closed and seven young people from Nepean have been
nominated. Each issue Nepean This Week
will introduce a few of the nominees until the winner is announced.
ACTIVE LIFESTYLE
Bell High
School student Abeer
Chokor loves to play sports and stay active.
Chokor was nominated for the young athlete
award.
While she may be competitive on the playing
field, Chokor is sweet and pleasant when speaking one on one.
“It felt good because I do things within
the school to have fun,” she said about her nomination.
Chokor started a program at her school
called Live it Up, which promotes physical activity. The program is jointly run
by the school and Ottawa Public Health. The purpose of the program is to get
kids involved school wide with fun activities that promote a healthy lifestyle.
According to Chokor, there are
approximately 10 to 20 events each school year and the activities have a wide
range. They’ve done a Bell
version of the Amazing Race to an army run to a Dance Dance Revolution day in
the gym.
“Once we even played musical chairs in the
gym with the whole school,” she said.
Chokor’s passion for activity and desire to
get others involved have helped shape her into a leader that others take notice
of. One such person is the teacher who nominated her, Lorna Bradley.
“Even though Abeer is committed to
excellence in athletics, her academic pursuit of excellence is extremely
important,” Bradley said. “Abeer has proven herself to be a worthy competitor,
a good sports person, a dedicated leader, and hardworking student.”
SENSE OF DUTY
Audrey Tan is another Bell High School
student who raised herself to distinction with her passion to be involved.
Tan was nominated for the service and
caring award.
Though Tan is only 15, she’s involved in a
large number of activities within her school and community. Tan has been
running the Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving club, which is a sister
organization to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, since Grade 9, she is also
involved in the Kiwanis Educating Youth club, and was made the Kiwanis
representative for her school. Tan also participates in school activities like
the junior concert band and cross-country racing, to name a few.
John Melville, the teacher who nominated
her said that Tan has taken a lead role at the school since she started there
in Grade 9.
“She really stepped into big shoes early on
and is one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met,” he said. “She’s really an
outstanding youth.”
Despite her large contribution to those
around her, Tan said she didn’t feel like she had done anything that was
deserving or worthy of recognition, she said she was just doing her duty.
“I didn’t realize how good it makes me feel
to help out and give back to the community,” she said. “It’s something everyone
should do.”
GLOBAL AWARENESS
A solid grasp of
what is going on in the world and the ability to make informed decisions is
something that is important to Bell
High School student, Eric
Wu.
Wu is nominated
for the young activist and young entrepreneur awards.
Wu’s dedication
to improving young people and keeping them informed of world issues comes in
the form of model UN. When Wu started at Bell
there wasn’t a model UN club and two years later he decided to start one.
“In Grade 11 I
just realized that I could start one myself,” he said.
From there the club took off and Wu helped
other schools get their clubs off the ground. The goal for this year was 100
clubs in Ottawa
and Wu fell just shy with 70.
“It’s important to do what you want to do
and do what’s important to you,” he said. “You have to do it for the right
reasons.”
Shannan Collins, the model UN teacher
advisor and the one who nominated Wu, saw his dedication and hard work to his
cause.
“Eric, cognizant of the fact that this is
his final year leading the club, took to promoting Model UN to younger grade
levels and organized learning conferences where new members were trained on
debate procedures and protocol,” Collins said in an email. “As well, he
continues to network with students in other schools, helping them to establish
and grow their own Model UN Clubs.
“Eric is a leader amongst his peers. He is a thoughtful, dedicated student and a
strong contributor to our school community.”
DEDICATION TO THE ARTS
The last – but certainly not least –
nominee from Bell
High School is Dylan On
who was nominated for the arts and culture award.
The principal of Bell High School,
Bruce Whitehead, describes On as “one of two of the most gracious,
compassionate, wonderful people I’ve ever met in my 20 years of teaching.”
This past school year On has been very
involved with the Sears drama festival, which is a competition for high school
plays. On’s passion for the arts can best be seen in his participation in the
Sear festival. Bell
performed The Picture of Dorian Gray,
which was adapted from the novel by On. He also wrote the music for the play
and acted the lead.
“Sometimes you don’t sleep and sometimes
you remember that you go to school as well,” On said.
Before the Sears festival, On was involved
in the different forms of the arts. Theatre was acquired through high school
and writing is something he keeps working on.
But regardless of how new On is to the arts
world, it’s something he’s prepared to pursue through higher education.
“Get out and do and see as much as you
can,” On said. “There’s so much to explore – there’s a wider awareness. After
awhile everything clicks and you feel involved.”
jamie.doggart@metroland.com