Sustainability Bursary

Abishanth served as co-president of Middlefield’s environmental club, Green Team, for three years. As the events coordinator, marketer and administrator of the club, he assisted in various activities including weekly classroom energy and recycling audits, hosting educational activities for students and supporting the school’s garden and greenhouse, which all contributed to Middlefield receiving a silver ranking from EcoSchools Canada. Abishanth also led students in the 2020 climate strike at his school and has volunteered for 10,000 Trees for the Rouge. In Grade 10, he received the Sara Watkin’s Global Citizen Award which recognizes a student who has an appreciation for nature and lends a helping hand to the community. Abishanth plans to continue his advocacy for the environment during his post-secondary studies at the University of Toronto where he is enrolled in the Life Sciences Program.

Ally served as a member of Thornhill’s Eco Club where she had the opportunity to partake in Eco School competitions and co-ordinate Earth Week activities. She also created Seeds of Awareness, which through a microgrant from Students on Ice, gifted her peers free native Ontario plant species and taught them how to care for the species. Ally also had the experience of witnessing climate change first-hand through a scholarship with Students on Ice where she and 120 youth from around the globe completed an expedition to Pond Inlet located on the shores of Baffin Island, Nunavut. During the expedition the group learned how the melting sea ice is affecting the Indigenous community’s hunting customs and contributing to the area food crisis. Ally plans to continue her environmental advocacy at the post-secondary level by exploring the connection between health and environmental issues and is enrolled in the Health Sciences Program at McMaster University.

Brooke is the founder of Reusable Cups for Clean Earth, an initiative which aims to empower youth. Through the initiative, youth are encouraged to consider the impact of their environmental footprint and reduce consumption of single-use plastics. As founder, Brooke manages a team of youth and together the team creates content for its media platforms and plans outreach events. Through the group she hosts Five-Tip-Friday each week where she shares five unique ways to reduce plastic consumption. The group has attracted international attention and held a virtual event encouraging student attendees to shop locally and refrain from purchasing single-use plastics. Brooke intends to continue her mission of spreading awareness of the detrimental effects of single-use plastics while completing her post-secondary education. Holding TED-talks and conferences for students (both in secondary school and post-secondary studies) and lobbying for the ban of single-use plastics at post-secondary institutions are only a couple of her strategies for continuing her environmental advocacy. Brooke is currently enrolled in the Health Sciences Program at McMaster University.

Helen served as the Human Resources Director for Human Nature Projects Canada, a youth-led organization raising awareness of the environmental issues facing society today through education, climate action and conservation. In her role as a Director, Helen led executive and volunteer recruitment processes, assisted in running events and built rapport amongst the team. She also works to reduce her own environmental impact in everyday life through the use of reusable and biodegradable products, purchasing items with minimal plastic waste and properly discarding materials. Helen is enrolled in the Civil Engineering Program at McMaster University with the goal of applying engineering principles to preserve public health and ecological balance.

Karren served as an executive member of St. Robert’s Global Development Club and is a SHAD Canada alumnus. As a member of the Global Development Club, Karren participated in the University of Toronto’s Engineering InnoMasters Program. A high school mentorship program, InnoMasters is based on a first-year engineering design course and has teams of students choose a problem within their school or local community and present solutions to a panel of judges. As a SHAD attendee, Karren participated in a month-long program which challenges students to work on design solutions for real-world problems including food security, water management and waste. Karren’s team focused on textile waste and developed a proposal for a system which would use recycled textiles as building insulation. Her team’s proposal received the “Best Pitch” award. Karren is dedicated to exploring the connection between human health and the environment and is currently enrolled in the Health Sciences Program at McMaster University.

Rico served as president of Milliken Mills’ environmental club, Green Inc. His responsibilities included the organization of school-wide Earth Day events, running workshops and promoting environmental activism throughout Milliken Mills. Rico has presented as a keynote speaker on several occasions including an EcoSchools Canada conference and the City of Markham’s 2019 Earth Day event. He has also served on the Youth Advisory Council of EcoSchools Canada and volunteered as a canvasser for the Green Party. In 2019, Rico participated in the University of Toronto’s National Biology Competition, which provides secondary students with an opportunity to test their knowledge and understanding of biology via a written exam. Rico placed third out of 3,135 contestants in the Competition and received the designation of National Biology Scholar with Distinction. He plans to further his education of the natural world through his post-secondary studies and is currently enrolled in the Life Sciences Program at the University of Toronto. Rico served as president of Milliken Mills’ environmental club, Green Inc. His responsibilities included the organization of school-wide Earth Day events, running workshops and promoting environmental activism throughout Milliken Mills. Rico has presented as a keynote speaker on several occasions including an EcoSchools Canada conference and the City of Markham’s 2019 Earth Day event. He has also served on the Youth Advisory Council of EcoSchools Canada and volunteered as a canvasser for the Green Party. In 2019, Rico participated in the University of Toronto’s National Biology Competition, which provides secondary students with an opportunity to test their knowledge and understanding of biology via a written exam. Rico placed third out of 3,135 contestants in the Competition and received the designation of National Biology Scholar with Distinction. He plans to further his education of the natural world through his post-secondary studies and is currently enrolled in the Life Sciences Program at the University of Toronto.

Sissy served as an executive member of Markville’s environment club where she planned weekly workshops promoting environmental protection and sustainability. As a member of the club, she organized a battery recycling event in her community and coordinated an educational tour of a local battery recycling facility for club members. Sissy is also an executive member of the Ontario Nature Organization’s Youth Council and a participant in its Youth Summit. The Ontario Nature Youth Summit engages young leaders from communities across Ontario to take action on current environmental issues. During the Summit, Sissy’s team drew attention to the water quality crisis in First Nations’ residential areas and received approval from the organization to run the charity event Run4Water to bring further attention to the crisis. As an executive on the Youth Council, she and her partner are leading a planting event in Markham with a grant from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. Sissy plans to focus on the involvement of programming in the environmental industry during her post-secondary studies and is enrolled in the Software Engineering Program at the University of Waterloo.

Yanny served as a member of Father Michael McGivney’s Eco Club and also participated in the school’s stewardship of conservation areas activity where he assisted in planting trees and cleaning up the areas. He has plans to volunteer for 10,000 Trees for the Rouge and is working to setup a Bag2School drive during which the school collects textiles for proper recycling and donation. Yanny also founded the school’s Engineering Society where he covered topics such as sustainability and efficiency. He is enrolled in Ryerson University’s Computer Engineering Program with the aim of linking technology to a sustainable future.