Students are learning more about local charities through a project that inspires them to open their eyes to the needs of their community. On Thursday, Jan.
Students are learning more about local charities through a project that inspires them to open their eyes to the needs of their community.
On Thursday, Jan. 25, Grade 9 Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) students made presentations in hopes of winning $5,000 for their charity of choice.
For the past 13 years, students of BCHS have participated in the Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI), researching charities in the area, spending time with them to learn what they do and why they are so vital to the community.
"I think a lot of our students grow up and don't realize what is going on and what people are going through within our community. Some of them do because they are going through it themselves, but some of them don't. This is a bit of an eye-opener," said Elizabeth-Anne Switzer, BCHS teacher and YPI program organizer.
Students are often shocked by the statistics they hear within the community. For example, they are taken aback to learn the number of residents relying on programs such as the food bank.
"They are very sheltered to a lot of these things, so this is one way of opening them up to what is happening around them," continued Switzer.
The initiative was founded by the Toskan Casale Foundation in 2002, and is an international program that has directed of millions of dollars in funding to charities chosen by secondary school students across Canada.
After researching their charity of choice, students create a presentation to carry out before a panel of judges. The judges then determine which presentation made the most impact, which group showed the best connection to their charity or tried the hardest to make their presentation successful. The winning group of students is awarded $5,000 for their charity to help make an impact in the community.
"I don't think students ever end up getting in front of a group this large and doing a presentation of this magnitude essentially on their own. I think it is a great developmental tool... it is really great for them to start learning what is going on in our community," Switzer explained.
In the past, some students have gone beyond the project to continue working with the charity of their presentation, or another charity of interest.
This year, students looked into 22 local charities such as the Bonnyville Library Board, Bonnyville Victim Services Unit, Bonnyville Food Bank, Santa's Elves, the Bonnyville Native Friendship Centre, and even the local fire department.
It was a group of four who took on the task of the fire department, spending the better part of a night getting to know the ins and outs of being a firefighter, and the people who put their lives on the line for their community.
Sarah Harasem, Payge Satek, Ryanne Wenzel and Mason Ward all learned valuable lessons from their presentation, including the risks these men and women take, the importance the fire department has on the community, and how it functions.
"I went in knowing nothing about it, and now I am coming out knowing a lot more," explained Harasem.
What caught Satek and Ward by surprise was the number of ways firefighters could get injured while on the job, while Wenzel learned about what it takes to be a firefighter.
"It is surprising how much dedication goes into it, and I think that was a really good thing to learn," she said.
For Wenzel, the fire department hits close to home, with a father and sister who volunteer as firefighters for the Town of Bonnyville. This was one of the reasons the group chose this non-profit in particular.
"It would mean everything to win, because we spent so much time and effort trying to make this presentation, and because we really want to win the money for our charity," Harasem added.
The group agreed that the project opened their eyes to the world around them and the charities that are within the community, how they can help, and how some families rely on them for day to day living.
Switzer said, "We really hope that our students don't find themselves in need, but now they know who they can reach out to. Even though we hope and wish that we are people that they can open up to every day, maybe we are not, and now they have an idea of someone else they can go to."
The winner of this year's YPI program will be chosen this week.
