Student philanthropy at SLHS

Photo: SLHS student team wins a $5,000 YPI grant for the Land O'Lakes Community Services Women’s Program, l-r; Mr. Jamie McCullough, YPI rep. Katherine McGregor, SLHS students Michaela Vanness, Dara-Lynn Matson, James Dillabough, Travis Tyson, SLHS principal Heather Highet and Mr. Ryan Michie

Thanks to the work of a winning team of five grade 10 students at Sharbot Lake High School, the Land O’Lakes Community Services now has $5,000 more in their coffers to spend on their Women's program, which supports abused women in the community.

The SLHS team was one of 12 teams who participated in the Youth Philanthropist Initiative program, or YPI, a Canada-wide program that runs in high schools throughout Canada, the US, and the UK. The YPI began in Canada in 2002. The seven-week program sees student teams identifying and researching various charitable organizations who focus on community issues at the grassroots level. Each student team focuses on one charity of their choice, researches its mandates and programs, and conducts interviews with its employees and volunteers. The team then makes a presentation to their fellow students and a panel of student judges as to why they feel the charity should receive the $5,000 YPI grant. In a special presentation on January 23 at SLHS, three teams that were chosen as finalists and representing the organizations: Bereaved Families of Ontario – Ottawa Region; Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington; and Land O' Lakes Community Services made presentations to their fellow students. After a short deliberation a panel of five judges comprised of four senior students at the school along with school principal Heather Highet awarded the YPI $5,000 grant to the student team who chose Land O' Lakes Community Services as their charity of choice.

Katherine McGregor, a YPI representative who made the cheque presentation, said the YPI program has three main objectives: 1. to engage students in philanthropy and community activism by building skills and creating in them an awareness of what charities are working in the community and how they might get involved; 2. to grow more compassionate communities by encouraging young people to both recognize and support those charities; and 3. assisting grass roots charitable orgaizations in local communities by offering up a financial contribution. The program is curriculum based, which makes it more wide spread in its impact. It was initially introduced at the school years ago by teacher Mr. Randy McVety. This year, grade 10 teachers Mr. Ryan Michie and Mr. Jamie McCullough ran the program in their grade ten classrooms. Both highlighted what the program does for their students. “Because the students themselves have to make the initial move to connect with these community organizations, it offers students an important social element and is an important step that these students might not otherwise take,” Mr. McCullough said. Mr. Michie added, “One of the intentions of the civics course, which is the curriculum that the program is run through, is to give the students a chance to learn about citizenship and philanthropy and to learn about the needs of their specific community. This program not only gives a monetary value to the work the students undertake to do but also teaches them about the organizations and charities in need of their help.”

A whooping round of applause broke out when the winning team was finally announced. Congratulations to Michaela Vanness, Travis Tyson, Dara-Lynn Matson, James Dillabough, (and Anna Baker who was not in attendance) who stood to receive the cheque and pose for a photo. The team was then invited to make the phone call to the Land O' Lakes Community Services office, where no doubt the announcement would be received with much excitement. Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the program.