This is the ninth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Ana Adams

We arranged to meet Ana for coffee at Pure Vanilla on Cadboro Bay Road one day after school. It didn’t take us long to realize that she was an incredibly well rounded, generous and caring young woman who already had a clear sense of purpose and direction.  Ana’s dream is to become a pediatric physiotherapist and after interviewing her for a little over an hour, it’s pretty clear to us why.

Ana was born and raised in Victoria, attending St. Patrick’s School from Kindergarten to Grade 7, Monterey Middle School for Grade 8 and the Oak Bay High, where she is currently in Grade 12. In addition to maintaining an outstanding first class academic record and winning a prestigious Oak Bay High School Green and White Award last year, Ana is engaged in numerous extracurricular activities.

Ana has played field hockey since Grade 7 and has always competed at a very high level.  She served as captain of the Under 15 BC provincial team and presently captains her high school team. Last year, Ana played on the under 18 BC provincial team. Playing at this level requires a high degree of commitment – including trips every weekend to Vancouver for practices during late spring and early summer. Ana currently plays with the Lynx Women’s Division 1 field hockey team as a midfielder. She has had to overcome severe stress injuries in both hips, but she persevered and has since recovered from these injuries. For Ana, playing sports is also about giving back and so since 2011, she has coached in the Under 10 age group of the Victoria junior field hockey spring league.

For the past three years Ana has acted as a Peer Buddy in the Best Buddies Program whose goal is providing inclusivity and friendship for students of all abilities. She’s also presently active in the Youth Against Cancer club that runs throughout the school year promoting cancer awareness and holding fundraising campaigns. This year the club is spearheading an awareness campaign focusing on the harmful effects of flavoured tobacco products. Ana was also involved in the annual Oak Bay Tour de Rock Cops for Cancer campaign – a bottle drive she organized brought in $5,500.00 of the total $40,000 raised by the school this year. She also helped with a community event at Willows Beach, a car wash and bake sale for the cause.

Ana has been leader of the Oak Bay Youth Outreach Program, where 15-20 students research the work of different societies and not for profit organizations in our community in order to determine where they might donate a $2,500.00 grant from the Victoria Foundation’s Vital Youth Program. Last year, the beneficiary was the Multiple Sclerosis Society. They Youth Outreach Program also raises awareness in the school of different issues facing the broader community.

Ana, along with 3 peers, also won $5,000.00 in the Youth in Philanthropy initiative. This school-based initiative involves choosing a charity and pitching it to judges while competing with others doing the same for their selected charity.  The Mary Manning Centre, which provides child abuse prevention and counselling services, was the beneficiary of the $5,000 that Ana’s team won.  Ana noted that she was “terrified about public speaking, but she got through it” and she values the experience she gained from going beyond her comfort zone with this project.

A “Hero Holiday” school trip to Mexico last year, which Ana described as “the best experience of my life”, reinforced Ana’s desire to work with children, particularly those in developing nations. The Oak Bay High School group traveled to Mexico to help build houses for two families. Ana detailed how she also spent many hours with two young girls (aged 4 and 7 years) with whom she ended up becoming very attached. Initially the young girls were very shy and wary of the unfamiliar visitors and their oddities like water bottles and sunglasses. Ana fondly recalled how the four year old, Estefania, would nervously peer over a cloth fence and watch the Oak Bay students from afar. But Ana, through showing the girls pictures from her digital camera, was quickly able to make them feel comfortable and safe. By the end of the first day, Estefania and Ana were friends. By the second day, Estefania, became so fond of Ana that she screamed her name and ran from a nearby field upon seeing her, and subsequently jumped into her arms. On Ana’s last day in Mexico, Estefania presented her with a little yellow flower that she tucked in Ana’s hair.

Ana also relayed to us a story about how Estefania, the four year old, gave her a rusty blue hair clip. “It was very emotional, one of the best moments of my life” when the young impoverished girl passed along to Ana one of her valued possessions. Ana enjoyed being able to help the seven year old girl with her homework – they sat on the dirt floor of her home and worked on numbers and Ana taught her some English phrases. The girl’s grandmother, who was in poor health, appreciated Ana’s assistance so much that she presented her with a handmade bracelet. Ana told us how much the bracelet means to her and that she rarely wears it because she wants to keep it forever as a keepsake.

Ana has already “done her homework” and extensively researched universities both directly, and through attending Canadian University information events. Upon graduating from high school, Ana’s dream would be to be accepted into a university kinesiology or human biology program, with the eventual goal of becoming a pediatric physiotherapist. When we asked why, she said, “I love children, interacting with them and getting to know them”. Upon completion of her training, Ana would like to spend time working with children in a developing nation. Clearly inspired by her “hero holiday”, Ana would like to learn more about global health issues and international development. Ideally, she would like to work with children who have been affected by war in association with Doctors without Borders.

We asked Ana if there was anyone in particular that inspired her. She responded that there were aspects and attributes of many different people that inspired her and there were “lots of awesome teachers”; she couldn’t single anyone out. She was also quick to note that she was “surrounded by amazing students”.  Ana is humble, thoughtful and compassionate, yet clearly capable of competing at the highest levels in sports, academics and leadership. She’ll be an exceptionally strong candidate for both athletic and academic entry scholarships from universities across North America. And wherever she ends up, it’s clear to us that she’ll enrich the lives of those around her through her dedication and commitment to her community.

This is the eighth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Erinne Paisley

Our first opportunity to hear Erinne speak and witness her remarkable leadership skills was at a student rally held on the steps of the BC legislature on September 9^th. Erinne had coordinated and organized the event. It brought students together from across Greater Victoria and gave them a venue to express their concerns as to how the teachers’ labour dispute was affecting their education and their future. Erinne spoke passionately and articulately about the wish of students to get back to school. And over the next few days she was extensively interviewed by the media as a spokesperson for students affected by the strike.  Erinne handled herself like a seasoned media veteran and told us “I really enjoy speaking with media”.

Erinne was born in Edmonton and her family moved to Victoria when she was one year old. She attended Selkirk Montessori from Kindergarten to Grade 8, then moved to Reynolds Secondary where she is now in Grade 12.

Erinne became very active at Reynolds Secondary right from Grade 9 with involvement in Leadership, Youth in Philanthropy/Vital Youth Group, the Principal’s Advisory group, Open 4 Change leadership group, Get R.E.A.L. Reynolds Environment group, the Outdoors Club and Reynolds Action NOW activist group. It was in the Principal’s Advisory group where Erinne met several older students who had a positive influence on her life. This group met weekly to discuss improvements to the school, plan assemblies and build and nurture a healthy relationship between students and Reynolds’ Principal. Erinne particularly enjoyed touring visitors through Reynolds and visiting feeder middle schools as an ambassador for the school.

Erinne is an honour roll student and she has won many academic awards, including the Principal’s Shield Award. Her service to her school and community has also been recognized with numerous awards for outstanding volunteer service. Erinne has also studied violin for 8 years and completed the Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 4 level. She loves to write and she entered a national writing contest in Grade 8. She even wrote a 25,000 word novelette while in Grade 7. This year, Erinne started interning at a communication company — Reboot Communications — as a Youth Content Developer. She loves social media, speaking at conferences and organizing events.

Erinne praised the mentorship she received from the former principal of Reynolds, Alana Charlton. “She has had a lot of influence in my life” noted Erinne. In turn, Alana Charlton described Erinne as “an exceptional young woman with outstanding leadership skills”. Erinne has also been inspired by her parents and Reynolds teachers Sara Reside and Heather Coey, all of whom have “taught me so much about life”.

Erinne has fully engaged in We Day and attended their BC event every year since Grade 8. In Grade 11, she was chosen as one of ten Canadian students to attend a We Day event in London, England and a conference in Berlin, Germany as part of the National Global Citizen Scholarship Program. Erinne submitted a video to the We Day evaluation committee and was subsequently interviewed by Skype prior to her selection. She has also produced other videos on her youtube channel as part of bullying awareness and we share campaigns.

The Reynolds Action NOW group was co-founded by Erinne and two other students while Erinne was in Grade 10. Its purpose is to bring youth together to discuss and take action upon societal issues of importance to them. The  Action NOW group arrange for external speakers at their meetings and they initiate awareness campaigns within the school. About 10 core members join Erinne in the present Action NOW group and one of Erinne’s goals is to act as a  mentor for younger students so that they can take over once she graduates.

Erinne was very excited to tell us about Reynolds’ involvement in the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock and she was overjoyed with the success of the campaign this year. Reynolds ended up bringing in just over $100,000.00 after Rudi Hoenson wrote a $7,000 cheque on the day the Tour de Rock visited the school. This sum added to the $93,202 the students had already raised.

It was an unusual year for Erinne and the Cops for Cancer team at Reynolds due to the teachers’ strike. In addition, Dean Norris-Jones, a teacher at the school who played a critical role in previous fundraising efforts, was participating as a rider in the tour this year. Remarkably, their $100,000 fundraising goal was met. As one of the co-leaders of the campaign, Erinne told us that “it was very different this year, but we persevered as a school community”.

Erinne Paisley is an incredibly talented young woman who will complete any task and do anything she puts her mind to. She already has an impressive list of accomplishments and awards in recognition of her leadership. It’s clear to us that we will be reading a lot more about Erinne in the years ahead.  Thank you, Erinne for your commitment, passion and leadership.

This is the seventh in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Claire Wood

Our first impression of Claire was that she was a teacher or an administrator at Oak Bay High School because of her commanding presence as we met her outside the East Office. She naturally, and quickly took charge and guided us to a small room for our interview. “Sorry for all the mess in here, it’s all the materials for the arrival of Tour de Rock tomorrow”.  It turned out that she was one of three co-campaign leaders for the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock.  She was immersed in last minute preparations for the big event to take place at the newly opened Oak Bay gymnasium. Yet, Claire had a calm, approachable demeanor while at the same time exuding confidence.

Clare has been involved in Cops for Cancer for a number of years. In grade 10, she shaved her head and raised $2,300.00 for the campaign. In grade 11, she became a project leader, handled media and public relations, worked on the website and emceed a benefit concert. Her role as 2014 co-campaign leader involved a speech and selection process last spring. Claire described her role in this years’ campaign as: overseeing the running of the project (extra challenging this year due to the teachers strike and late opening of school); making sure fundraising was happening; hosting meetings; setting up assembly timeline; media and public relations and assigning jobs. Claire described her leadership style as highly organized, being a good delegator and able to hold people responsible for their commitments.

Claire was born and raised in Victoria, attending Monterey and Margaret Jenkins schools before Oak Bay High. Her favourite courses are Law, Comparative Civilizations and History. She is a high achiever academically too, with an A average. “I’m not a math brain, but I loved Physics” she told us. She received Honours in Grade 9 and Honours with Distinction in Grade 10.

In addition to her studies, we weren’t surprised to learn of Claire’s many other activities. She was in Student Council (Grades 9 and 10), Community Leadership (since Grade 9) and a Connect Club Leader in Grade 11 (organizing mixer activities for international students). Last year, she joined the Environment Club and volunteered with Helping Homeless Hearts (organizing Christmas care packages for our homeless population and working at the Rainbow Kitchen). All this, and she has held part time jobs in the food service industry in her spare time! Last year, she received the prestigious Green and White Award at her school and the CTV Amazing Kid Award, along with a $1000.00 prize.

Claire has been a rower since grade 9, competing on both school teams and in club rowing. Unfortunately, this year’s school rowing season had to be cancelled due to the teachers strike. But that hasn’t diminished her passion for it. And Claire told us she’s even met one of her best friends through rowing. Claire was on the school swim and synchronized swim team in Grade 9 and last year, she joined the first girl’s rugby team at Oak Bay High.

When asked about who has been inspirational to her, Claire was quick to respond with Murray Allen, Vice Principal at Oak Bay High. “He’s a man of his word and he holds people accountable” she said, and further noted “if he says he will do something, it will get done”. It was clear to us that Claire has tremendous respect for Murray Allen.

In the long term, Claire has her sights set on a career in international relations and federal politics. She is considering a gap year with the Latitudes Program following graduation and she has already applied for a 6 month program in Ecuador. In preparation, she is taking a Spanish course in the evenings through Camosun College. Claire doesn’t have her educational goals “set in stone” and she wants some flexibility, but she did mention her dream school for an eventual law degree would be the University of Toronto. She also talked about first obtaining an undergraduate degree in political science at either the University of Victoria or the University of Toronto.

In the hour we spent chatting with Claire, it became clear to us that she was on a path to do great things. We commented to each other after the interview that we wouldn’t be a surprised to see Claire become our Premier one day. Her interest in politics, impressive leadership skills, confident yet approachable nature, and commanding presence suggest to us that Claire has a very promising future. Our democracy would be profoundly enriched by Claire’s presence, whatever political party she ends up working with.

This is the sixth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Jake Rimmer

You’d never know from his unassuming, humble and polite demeanor that Jake is an accomplished athlete and musician, a straight-A student (with a 97% average) and a student leader. But after our meeting with him at the Starbucks in Oak Bay village, it became apparent to us that Jake is a very talented and compassionate young man. Whether it be busking on government street to raise funds for his piano and vocal lessons, or volunteering in Mexico to help the less fortunate, Jake is passionate about what he does and an inspiration to those around him.

Jake was born in Australia, near Brisbane in the small town of Nambour, Queensland and he moved to Canada at 6 months of age with his mother and brother Talen, both of whom continue to inspire him. His closeness to, and admiration of his older brother (who is attending the University of Victoria) were obvious. He told us that his brother was “a hard act to follow”, having served as valedictorian for his graduating class and receiving the prestigious Merit Cup in Grade 12 at Oak Bay High School. We were left wondering if  Talen would have told us the opposite if we had interviewed him instead! Jake’s maturity and accomplishments to date certainly set a very high standard.

Jake is in Grade 12 at Oak Bay High, having attended the Lansdowne middle school french immersion program prior to that.  He’s loaded up his timetable with Math 12 (AP), three Science 12 classes and Physics 11 through SIDES. Yet Jake still finds time to participate in numerous other activities including Peer Counseling, the Environment Club, coaching volleyball and he is a co-leader of Oak Bay High’s Best Buddy Program. Jake recently joined the debate club. Led by Mr. Tim Bradshaw, the Oak Bay Debate Club has a rich history and hosts the annual Golden Gnome debate tournament in December. In Grade 11 Jake took on a Youth Philanthropy initiative as a Planning 11 project. This involved choosing a charity, giving presentations and competing with others to receive a cash prize for the charity. Jake chose LifeRing, which is an organization that provides community-based support groups for people struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. His pitch, in slam poem format, took him to the finals.

Sports have played a significant role in Jake’s development. He played baseball competitively for many years, volleyball from Grade 6 to Grade 10 (making it to the Nationals in Grade 8). An unfortunate injury during a volleyball game a few years ago (which resulted in a separated shoulder that later required surgery), has sidelined him from that sport. Nevertheless, to stay physically active, Jake has taken up cross country and track this year.

When asked from where he gets inspiration, his answer was his mother and father, his teachers Mr. Brent Garraway and Ms. Tessa Kubicek, “the most inspirational people I’ve ever met”, and “music”.

Jake’s passion is music. It would be his dream to be able to make a living as a musician, “doing what I love the most”. Jake played percussion in band during middle school and his earlier high school years. A singer and songwriter, he taught himself  guitar and started busking on government Street during the summer. He saved up his earnings from busking to purchase music recording software in addition to paying for his piano and voice lessons. Jake describes his genre of music as a combination of soul, folk and acoustic hip hop. His musical influences include Ed Sheeran, The Script, Sam Smith and Hedley. Jake plans to pursue a music degree at the University of Victoria starting next year.

An experience that took place in March 2014 when Jake was in Grade 11 had a huge impact on his life. A group of 34 Oak Bay High School students took a trip to Mexico on a “Hero Holiday”. The students raised $34,000.00 for the trip and over a period of 10 days, they built two houses for Mexican families. The effect on Jake was profoundly emotional and he had a hard time explaining to us how much it meant to him. He got to know a family whose home he helped build and learned how they were content, despite having so little material wealth, especially compared to the luxuries we enjoy in Canada, “they have a fraction of what we have but they are some of the happiest people I’ve seen”. Before he left Mexico, Jake wrote a letter to himself about the experience. He recently received the letter in the mail from Mexico. For Jake, rereading the words that he had previously written was an extremely moving experience. He told us the time in Mexico was an “indescribable experience” and “it changed me”. Jake hopes to once again undertake another Hero Holiday in the not too distant future.

Jake is truly a remarkable young man who has so much to give – and he does so with a big heart. Thank you Jake for all that you do to enrich the lives of those around you.

This is the fifth in our series of stories celebrating the outstanding accomplishments of youth in our community. These inspirational young adults are enriching our lives with their passion and commitment to the betterment of society.

Tessa Owens

When Tessa was in Grade 6, she wrote herself a letter promising to devote her life to environmental advocacy. Six years later, it’s evident she has remained true to her word.  In everything she does, Tessa strives to continue, in her own words, “helping to educate global citizens about ecological issues and helping conserve the environment in any way possible in order to ensure a future for coming generations”. Now entering her first year at Lester B. Pearson United World College, a 2 year pre-university college offering the International Baccalaureate , Tessa will continue her studies surrounded by students from all over the world.

Tessa was born in Boulder, Colorado and moved to Victoria with her family when she was very young. Her education began at St. Margaret’s School. Once middle school started in grade 6 she moved to St. Michaels University School. While she has excelled academically (97% average), her extracurricular activities and pursuits outside of school have enriched her education, as well as the education of those around her. At just 17, Tessa boasts a resume that belies her age.

Tessa has a sense of clarity and purpose in life. She has set a variety of achievable goals for her future. And she even started researching universities when she was in Grade 7. Tessa plans to complete post secondary education, focusing on political science, environmental science and international development, with a view to get “my dream job working within the United Nations Environmental Program by the time I am 35”.

Tessa credits her parents with helping her develop her connection to nature and love for the outdoors. She has enjoyed camping and hiking with her family for as long as she can remember. And she loves being near the water and cannot imagine living away from the ocean.

In 2012, Tessa traveled to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro as a youth representative of Canadian Civil Society. There, she participated with We Canada and contributed to a report called “The Future We Want”. Tessa was profoundly affected by the reaction of delegates when she told them she was Canadian. She says “To be honest, I was embarrassed to be Canadian”. I understand her response. Canada once held an impeccable reputation for being brokers of international deals on the environment. Sadly, Canada’s reputation is now  one of breakers of international deals.

Noting the tremendous impact it had on her, Tessa vividly recalls watching An Inconvenient Truth when she was in Grade 5 . After finishing grade 10, Tessa attended a Climate Reality Leader training event hosted by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in Chicago, Illinois. She’s since given presentations on the causes and consequences of, as well as the solutions to, global warming; presenting to diverse audiences, including her school and a PowerShiftBC conference.

At the end of 2013, Tessa traveled to Antarctica as one of 72 students selected in the Students on Ice 2013/2014 scientific expedition. This 2 week expedition was a transformational experience for Tessa. It completely drained Tessa’s savings that she had been contributing to  since she was 7 years old, but “it was worth every penny”. The students were joined by world-renowned educators, professors, activists and historians who provided a very unique learning experience – one that Tessa will never forget.

In February 2014, Tessa was part of a group of students who organized the “Defend Our Future” day of action in British Columbia. Meetings were arranged across British Columbia with twenty Members of the Legislative Assembly. Tessa spoke in a highly intelligent, thoughtful and passionate way about the need to uphold and commit to meeting British Columbia’s legislated 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets. She firmly believes that we all need to hold the government accountable to the commitments that they have made.

At 17, I may not be old enough to vote, but I still feel it is of paramount importance to convey my dissatisfaction with our government’s blatant disregard for these legally binding targets.  Policy decisions made today will undoubtedly have an effect on my life—both in the short and the long-term—and with this at the forefront of my mind, I stand in defense of my future”

These are Tessa’s words. Words that I found to be so powerful that I embedded them at the start of my response to the 2014 Budget.

More recently, Tessa had another transformative experience in attending Unist’ot’en Camp of the Wet’suwet’en Peoples (Yinka Dini – People of this Earth) near Smithers, BC. The Unist’ot’en Clan is part of the hereditary chief system which has governed Wet’suwet’en lands for many centuries. The camp has been there for 5 years and its purpose is to occupy the land in the path of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

For fun, Tessa enjoys weightlifting and says that she would like to compete in powerlifting some day. While she enjoys being with friends, she also values the time she spends alone in reflection. She is inspired by the likes of David and his daughter Severin Suzuki (whom she met at the conference in Rio), Bill McKibben and Elizabeth May.

I’m convinced that in the not too distant future there will be young men and women who will include Tessa on their list of people who have inspired them. In fact, she is already on my list. It’s youth like Tessa who fill me with optimism and a sense of hope for the future. If the six years since she wrote herself the letter are any indication, I can only imagine the impact Tessa will have on our society in the years ahead.