
Emily Solonik, Shaelyn Callender, Natasha Senaratna and Abigail Girard were honoured at the June 10 club meeting. Natasha and Abigail received the $1500 Ken Turner Memorial Bursary; Emily received the $1500 Skilled Trades Bursary and Shaelyn attended the Jr Rotary Youth Leadership Award.
Natasha is a student at Dundas Valley Secondary School. She has been involved as a youth soccer coach and was selected from a pool of applicants by the principal and staff at DVSS to be on the HWDSB Student Senate. In addition, she created Students Making Change and led a group of students that ran an art auction as a fundraiser for local charities. Natasha will be attending Wilfred Laurier University in the Business Administration and Financial Mathematics Program.
Abigail is a student at St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School. She has been involved in many school teams, several of them leading to competition at the OFSAA level. She has participated in a school justice initiative We are Silent where students stayed off social media for 24 hours to raise awareness for those who do not have a voice. In addition, she has volunteered at St. Joseph's Villa and participated in a co-op placement at McMaster Children's Hospital Diagnostic Imaging department. Abigail will be attending McMaster University in the Medical Radiation Sciences Program.
Emily has participated in the Transportation SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) at Dundas Valley Secondary School and has completed a work placement at Galer Equipment. She volunteered at the Rockton World Fair over many years and has a passion for horses and animals. Emily will be attending Conestoga College in the Heavy Equipment Technician Program.
Shaelyn outlined the various leadership and fun activities she did with the other Jr. RYLA participants. She really enjoyed the experience and made great friends. Her real takeaway was how much she was able to grow when she stepped out of her comfort zone.