HOTSOUNDSCOOLJAZZ

ROBOBIRDS@ VEX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Michael Tolentinomedals at Canada-Wide

SCIENCEFAIRRally for a cureMark

MontefioreExecutive Producer works with some of Hollywood’s best

SHOWCASE SUMMER 2014

At Brock University, experiential learning and co-op programs are serious business that give our students an advantage.

When Lydia Tomek studied oenology and viticulture at Brock, her education included a work term in a leading Niagara winery. At graduation she was hired as the youngest winemaker in Canada. Today she is head winemaker at Hernder Estate Wines.

How did she like Brock’s blend of laboratory research and workplace experience? “I ended up falling in love with it.”

Lydia is an example of how Brock celebrates both sides of the brain, and helps people become better versions of themselves.

Come find your fit. Learn about our more than 70 undergraduate and co-op programs.

Visit discover.brocku.ca

From campus to career path

For both sides of the brain. B r o c k U n i v e r s i t y | N i a g a r a | C a n a d a

Lydia TomekHonours BSc (’04)

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Music4 | Hot Sounds Cool Jazz High school jazz quartet making the rounds

10 | Girl PowerFort Erie guitarist wins Toronto competition

Technology20 | Robobirds Make it To CaliforniaStudent robotics team competes on the world stage

23 | Robotics Changed My LifeA personal journey

Art24 | Sidewalk Art AttackChalk brings works of art to parking lot

Interest28 | A Voice for the VoicelessConquering adversity

31 | Biking from Vancouver to Calgary Solitary ride through the Rockies

34 | Teens Thinking Beyond ThemselvesThe key to giving

Science36 | Teen Jumps At Chance To Work With World-renowned ScientistMarch Break camp gives student new opportunities

40 | One on One with Michael Tolentino – Young ScientistScience at a snail’s pace

Life44 | Kids Define the Spirit of GivingMaking birthday dreams come true

46 | One on One with Claire and Eleen Lovell – Super VolunteersDouble the support for boys and girls

48 | Rallying for a CureRaising cash for research

Cover Story14 | Perseverance Paying Off for Niagara Filmmaker Walking the road less travelled

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We are pleased that those first seeds of an idea have now grown into a maga-zine we are proud to share with you. This inaugural issue is filled with stories about people you may not have heard of yet, but we’re sure you’ll hear more of in the future. They are young trailblaz-ers; people who are leaving their mark on the world in the fields of science and technology. They’re up-and-coming cre-ative thinkers, talented musicians, art-ists and a filmmaker who is establishing a name for himself at home and abroad.

We also feature young people who are going out into the world to improve the lives of others in a variety of different ways. In Showcase, we promise you a mag-azine filled with stories that will enter-tain, enlighten and inspire you. We’re sure they will make you stop and think about the many positive things happen-ing right here in Niagara every day. We feature these stories because they mat-ter.

We hope you enjoy Showcase.

© 2014 Showcase is a publication of the Corporate Services and Communications Department of the Niagara Catholic District School Board. Visit us at www.niagaracatholic.ca

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Welcome to SHOWCASE

When the idea of publishing a quarterly magazine was first discussed by the communications team, we were excited about the prospect of featuring good news articles and uplifting stories.

The communications team

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5

They’re as disparate a group

as you’d imagine, but when they come together, Jenna Cino, Mike Morabito, Jay Tomiano and Erik Reimers, students at Notre Dame College School in Welland are in perfect rhythm.

Jenna, a bassist, also plays the oboe, piano, flute, guitar and the trombone, her usual instrument in the Notre Dame College School band. “I taught myself to play the bass over the summer, and I’d like to learn to play the trumpet,” she says.

Erik’s a drummer. While drummers of-ten have a wild and woolly reputation, he’s quiet and reserved when answering questions, but lets loose when a drum kit is in front of him. Jay’s a guitarist, with the long blond hair and the sideways smile. His tastes run from Rock and Roll to smooth jazz. His favourite band? The John Arman Or-gan Trio. His favourite song?

“Yaya&Kiwi,” he says. “It’s just a fun song to play.”

Only Mike, who plays the alto saxo-phone, was not an experienced musi-cian when he started at Notre Dame. He picked up the sax because his brother played. Mike has since gone on to ex-pand his repertoire, playing guitar, ten-or sax, clarinet and “a little bit of flute.”

Together, they are the Notre Dame Jazz Combo, the second generation of a quartet music teacher Fraser Hebert formed in 2009. This month, they will make way for a new generation of mu-sicians who will bring their passion and enthusiasm to events not only at their school, but throughout Niagara.

Jenna is bound for Brock University, where she will study Arts and Business Communications. Erik plans to study Engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton. Mike will likewise be in Hamil-ton, honing his skills as a jazz sax player in the Applied Music Advanced Diploma program at Mohawk College. Only Jay will leave the area, to study Jazz Guitar at Vancouver Island University, British Columbia.

To say that this group of musicians is uniquely talented would be an under-statement. As a rookie combo in 2012, they travelled to MusicFest Canada in Ottawa, and won a silver medal. They qualified again this year, but were un-able to secure the funding they needed to make the trip across Canada.

Hebert said it was disappointing that the group couldn’t travel to British Columbia in their final year of high school, but says it just wasn’t meant to be. He speaks enthusiastically about each member, calling them “incredibly talented in their own right, and just amazing” when playing together.

And they’re in demand, playing at a va-riety of events and social functions at their school, and for functions hosted by the Niagara Catholic District School

JENNACINOInstruments played: Oboe, flute, piano, bass, guitar and trombone.

What’s next? Brock University, where she will study Arts and Business Communications.

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Board. In 2012 they played at the Welland Mayor’s Gala for Mayor Barry Sharpe, and this spring, they played for at the Pelham Mayor’s Gala at Lookout Point. They’ve also been the musical entertainment at weddings, the BEC Breakfast, various social justice fund-raisers for places like Welland’s Coldest Night event and The Hope Centre. They have even a performed at a Brock Uni-versity semi-formal.

“That’s pretty funny, because they actually have a band there,”

They’re in such demand that they have to keep their musical lineup fresh, especially in an area where people tend to frequent the same events.

“We have about 25 songs that we do regularly, and a few that we can really quickly learn for events,” says Erik, who hopes to play a few gigs over the sum-mer and maybe join a band when he moves to Hamilton for school.

In addition to gaining a reputation with clubs and organizations in town, the group has also caught the attention of other musicians.

Jay recalls playing an event at a Niaga-ra Falls hotel, and having two musicians wander over to begin playing with them. “That was pretty cool,” he says.

On a sunny Tuesday in early June, the quartet should have been in one of their final high school classes. Instead, they had spent the morning performing for senior citizens at the Wellness Centre in Welland, and then rushed back to school to take part in a photo shoot, with a pit stop for pizza in between.

Although they dress professionally for performances, the boys had been out-fitted in tuxedos for their photo shoot

– a new look for them – and had been forbidden from having lunch in their dapper, donated duds.

While the boys got dressed, Hebert picked through the pizza boxes, not-ing he’d grabbed the lunch right after the Senior’s Day event. He cast an eye down at the box that had been Jay’s, all but empty, save for a mountain of picked-off pepperoni.

ERIK REIMERSInstruments played: Drums, organ.

What’s next? Studying Engineering at McMaster University.

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JAYTOMIANO Instruments played: Guitar.

What’s next? Studying Jazz Guitar at Victoria Island University.

“I grabbed it really fast so they could have lunch,” Hebert said. “I didn’t re-alize he’d become a vegetarian. That must be new, because I’ve seen him plough through a huge steak.”

While they ate, they spoke about music; their inspirations and aspirations.

Erik is asked why he chose the drums.

“Rock Band,” he says simply. “Like, you want to be in one, or like the video game?” he’s asked. “The video game,” he answered, noting he picked it up back in Grade 7 and stuck with it throughout high school.

He’s reluctant to boast about his tal-ents, but his friends aren’t so shy.

“You’re the backbone of the jazz com-bo,” says Jay. “And he’s pretty good on organ,” adds Mike. Hebert offers similar praise: “He’s got a good ear. You don’t sound like you’re learning to play an in-strument; you sound like you’ve been playing it forever.”

Jay, who picked up the guitar because his Grade 5 teacher played and “I thought it was pretty cool,” has two gui-tars: An Ibanez AS-50, currently his go-to instrument for jazz, and an Epiphone Les Paul. He can’t imagine the thought of a day-job.

“I like playing music, if you can make a career out of what you like doing, that’s pretty good.”Mike counts Charlie Parker as his jazz sax idol, and says he dreams of a career in music.

He’s asked: “Do you want to be on stage? A session musician?”

It doesn’t matter,” he replies. “Anything that involves playing is OK.”

While the guys eat and talk, Jenna is in the makeup room, having her long, curly locks tamed into an elegant up-do. Although the Prom was still a week away, she gave her bandmates a sneak peek at her flame-coloured gown. If they seemed uncomfortable with their jackets, vests and ties, it didn’t show.

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They eased into a routine of gentle rib-bing – three encouraging the fourth to let loose while being photographed.

“Play for us,” calls out Notre Dame Principal Ralph DeFazio, who made his way into the Notre Dame School’s pho-to room for the shoot. “Let’s hear what you can do!”

With that, they pick up their instruments and jam a little. After all, it is what they do. ■

MIKEMORABITO Instruments played: Guitar, alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet and a little bit of flute.

What’s next? Studying Jazz Saxophone at Mohawk College.

Photos by:Brooke Boland Rosemary ArdizziSamantha MastrellaNotre Dame College School

Gentlemen outfitted by:Blakes Mens Wear

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Jessica Leslie was only a few bars

into Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll when Glenn Gifford knew she was a winner.The 16-year-old Grade 10 student from Lakeshore Catholic High School, Port Colborne, was the 14th contestant out of 16 guitar players from across Southern Ontario in the Toronto Police Service’s annual Music! Not Mischief competition, and from the moment she stepped on the stage, she blew the others away.

“Her stage presence – it was awesome – she’s a showman, she’s awesome,” said Gifford, who took over the helm of the school in February 2014. Impressed by what he’d seen Jessica do in rehearsals and other performances, Gifford travelled to the Virgin Mobile Mod Club on a Wednesday night in April to watch her play.

As they got to know each other, Gifford says he quickly became impressed with Jessica for more than her talent.

“She’s an incredible girl,” he says. “She’s at peace with who she is.”Music was always a part of Jessica’s life, but she recalls one moment where music went from being a passing interest to her passion.

“I always loved music, but I was in the car with my dad when I was about nine and this Led Zeppelin song, Whole Lotta Love, came on, and my dad said ‘check out this guitar,’” Jessica recalls. “That’s when I knew I had to learn to play.”

That year, she had the choice of a big birthday party or her first guitar. The choice was simple: “Oh, most definitely, I picked the guitar,” she says.

Jessica still has that GFX brown sunburst Stratocaster copy, and has since added to her collection, which now totals six electric guitars, including the one she brought home from the competition, donated by sponsor Mike Carparelli of Toronto-based Carparelli Guitars.

Although she took lessons for a few years, when Jessica’s original guitar teacher moved on, she found she didn’t click the same way with her new one, so she set to using her foundation to teach herself some new tricks.

Her commitment and passion has paid off.

Girl PowerLone Female Guitarist Teaches the Boys How to Rock in Toronto Competition

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Name: Jessica Leslie Age: 16 School: Lakeshore Catholic High SchoolInstrument: Electric Guitar Favourite song: Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix Guitar hero: Jimmy Page Favourite song to play: Enter Sandman, Metallica Quote: “Music is my escape, my safe haven. If I can’t get to a guitar when I’m angry or sad or stressed, if I can get to my headphones to listen to music, I’ll feel better.”

Photos by Lisa MacIntosh Photography.

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justice, so each added five bonus points to her score.

Music! Not Mischief was created by the Toronto Police Service six years ago, as an outreach to troubled youth. The idea was to bring teens and cops together over a mutual love of music, so the students could see that not all interactions with police have to be confrontational.

It was earlier in the school year when Lakeshore Catholic’s long-time Principal Dan Di Lorenzo approached Loreen Michalak, head of the school’s Arts Department, and asked her to recommend a student to enter the competition. Michalak convinced Di Lorenzo that while Jessica didn’t have the troubled background typical of Music! Not Mischief contestants, she was hands-down the best player she had. With that, Jessica was set up with School Resource Officer, Niagara Regional Police Constable Shawn Cuke. A self-confessed novice compared to Jessica’s superior skills, the two met periodically to chat and jam, but Jessica really took it to the next level.

Cuke was also in the crowd at the Mod Club that night and said he couldn’t have been more proud.

“She was representing Lakeshore Catholic, she was representing the

Niagara Region and the Niagara Regional Police were there supporting her,” says Cuke. “We were all just beaming, seeing her up there on the stage; just her presence, her confidence, it was incredible. I couldn’t have been more proud.”

Jessica says it took a while to register what was happening when she was on stage. “I had my eyes closed when I was playing, so I didn’t really see what people were doing.” Opening her eyes to see the crowd cheering for her was, she says, “just like heaven, my home.”

Since her win, Jessica has been invited to play at a music festival in Thorold, and to defend her back-to-back crowns in the teen music competition at the Friendship Festival in Fort Erie, which she calls home.

“I’m not going to do that, though,” she explains. “I feel like somebody else should go out there and feel like they’re a winner. It’s their time to shine.”

Jessica says she’d love to have a career in music, but if that doesn’t pan out, will opt instead for a career as an animal control officer. Even if she doesn’t go pro, Jessica says music will always be a part of her life.

“It was pretty surreal,” she says of the experience of stepping on stage to a room full of screaming fans. The moment the guitarist put down his instrument to let her rock out on her own, “was the most amazing feeling in the world.”Gifford described Jessica’s performance at Music! Not Mischief as “electrifying. All of the other competitors had a professional guitarist playing with them. But when Jess got on stage, he laid down his guitar, bowed down to her and let her play.”

In the end, Jessica – the only girl in the competition and Niagara’s lone representative – took the Music! Not Mischief crown. For her efforts, she received the Carparelli guitar and was invited to play a couple of gigs with Trace 9, the on-stage band at the event, this summer and fall.

Also pretty amazing were her scores. Judges Mark Holmes and Dan Todd, members of iconic Canadian 80s rock band Platinum Blonde, said a perfect 10 out of 10 wouldn’t do her performance

“Her stage presence – it was awesome – she’s a showman, she’s awesome”

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“It would be awe-some just playing for people and shar-ing my gift with people on stage, that’s really more than I can ask for.” ■

“Her stage presence – it was awesome – she’s a showman, she’s awesome”

13

Mark Montefiore is a child of the

video generation. He was born on July 1, 1981, exactly one month before MTV hit the airwaves. Growing up in the north end of St. Catharines, his family was much like many in the 1980s - dads who grew up with fathers who used to make home movies with reels of film in the 1950s and 60s had traded up to the newest technology, and bought video cameras to record moments of their own family life, large and small.

For youngster Mark, that massive – and expensive – video camera was the best toy in the house. As soon as he was old enough, he began using the camera for his own purposes, making (what else?) music videos along with his three sisters and, sometimes, family friends. “Oh, I’m sure there are all sorts of embarrassing videos out there that no-one will ever see,” Montefiore says on the line from his office in Toronto in early June. When pressed, he confesses his parents may still have a video of him performing La Bamba that he hopes will never see the light of day.

For those unfamiliar with the name, Mark

Montefiore is an up-and-coming film producer. He readily admits that his class-clown antics may have tormented at least a couple of teachers along the way; first at St. Alfred Catholic Elementary School and later at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School, St. Catharines.

“More times than not I got away with being funny in class, but there were a couple (of teachers) who were not so thrilled with it, I’m sure,” Montefiore says with a laugh.

Although he showed an early interest in making movies, Montefiore was a die-hard soccer fan, playing for Club Roma when he was young. He began looking at filmmaking as a possible career in high school, after taking Brian Thorne’s Communications Technology class.

Montefiore says Thorne encouraged students to get out and have as much fun as they could with the cameras, learning along the way. He says Thorne

offered students two pieces of advice: Tape is cheap, so don’t just stand around with a camera.

That advice, when paired with a kid with a penchant for comedy, can lead to hilarious results.

Montefiore said he and his classmates would go on all kinds of excursions to see what they could capture on tape. For instance, they would head to the Pen Centre during the Christmas break, to film the parking wars. Or they’d head out and surreptitiously film people entering and leaving places they just might not have wanted to admit visiting. “It’s funny, because what we did in high school was such throw-away stuff that it’d be hard to find any real talent in what we did,” he says.

Still, if that early exposure to video production lacked finesse, Montefiore more than made up for it in enthusiasm. Thorne was a perpetual cheerleader for his students, ensuring that cameras and editing bays were always available to students, and encouraging anyone who wanted to play.

“He’s been incredibly supportive, always,” says Montefiore. “He let us in there and let us make videos.”

Although Montefiore wasn’t entirely certain what he would do after high school, he always assumed he would head off to university, and finish with a degree in political science, or even law.But after being encouraged to unleash his comedy and creativity on the world, he quickly changed those plans.

“I was in OAC (the former term for Grade 13) when I realized that everything I was interested in doing had nothing to do with OAC,” Montefiore says.

Instead, he applied to the Radio, Television and Film program at Niagara College and the rest is history in the making.

Perseverance Paying Off for Niagara Filmmaker

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The film industry is tough. Every year,

thousands of young, wanna-be actors, directors, writers and producers arrive in Hollywood, New York, Vancouver and Toronto from big cities and small towns to pursue their dreams.

Most will fit in casting calls, auditions and writing around jobs at restaurants and shopping malls.

Not Montefiore. He knew that if he wanted to be successful, he would have to throw himself into the field. While others waited tables, he took low-paying production assistant jobs, just so he could get paid to learn and meet people in the industry.

“I always took a job in the industry,” he says. “My focus, since college, one hundred percent, has been on the business; even if that meant living with four or five roommates in a basement apartment. I always believed everything else would be a distraction.”

“It’s a different kind of business, and it’s tough to navigate,” says Montefiore. “There’s no actual pathway, and sometimes the only one you have to believe in you is yourself, and if you don’t believe in yourself, it won’t happen.” Montefiore said while his parents may not have understood their only son’s decision to take the road less travelled

when it came to making his way in the world, they were always behind him. “My parents have never been anything but one hundred per cent supportive,” he says.

Montefiore doesn’t have to look farther than

about 15 minutes down the highway to see a small-town success story in Hollywood.

“Look at James Cameron,” he says.

Montefiore began making short films on a shoestring budget. His 2003 short, The Soup or the Window and 2005’s Queen West, cost less than some offices spend on a business lunch ($100 and $500 respectively). They gained Montefiore some attention, and bragging rights as the winner of the Niagara Indie Film Festival each year.

15

Mark Montefiore poses with actor, Richard Dreyfus

In 2007, Montefiore turned his old neighbourhood into a film set, filming back in ’93. The film was about a young Garden City boy’s affinity for the Montreal Canadiens, despite growing up in a city that bleeds blue and white for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Montefiore writes a lot of his own projects, partially because he wanted to hone his skills and partially, just to make sure he could have something to create.

For the next several years, Montefiore worked on a variety of different projects, including Eating Buccaneers (his 2009 debut feature), and Picnicface, an award-winning sketch comedy show which aired on The Comedy Network.

Earlier this year, Montefiore scored his biggest success to date, with the St. Catharines premiere of Cas & Dylan. The unlikely buddy comedy stars Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfus and Hollywood It-Girl Tatiana Maslany, who is currently starring in the sci-fi series, Orphan Black, and was directed by Beverly Hills 90210 alumnus Jason Priestley.

What’s it like to be on set with some of the biggest names in Hollywood?

“It’s pretty amazing. It’s a big deal. Priestly signed on and it was amazing,” says Montefiore, who was too young to watch his director in his role as Brandon Walsh on the 1990s soap opera, which made him a teen heartthrob and superstar. “These people were fantastic to work with. They were regular, down-to-earth people, who just happen to be extremely talented.”

The $2.5-million budget for Cas & Dylan is a long way from those $100 and $500 flicks Montefiore put together a decade ago, but he has a long way to go to reach Cameron-like budgets for movies. But that’s okay with Montefiore, who is happy to travel along his own path.

Last September, he launched a second company, TV and film production house New Metric Media, along with business partner Patrick O’Sullivan. The company is based out of Toronto’s famous Pinewoods Studios. The duo currently has five TV series in development for

networks in Canada and are frequent visitors to Los Angeles and London.

The Internet has definitely made finding projects easier, says Montefiore, who counts a blog from a girl in New Zealand, a manuscript from a girl in the United Kingdom and a satirical web series about life in small-town Ontario among the latest for New Metric Media.“Things are getting more global for us,” says Montefiore, who says the Internet is a major source of possible stories to tell.

“But stories are everywhere,” he says. “An obituary. A greeting card. You used to really have to look for them. Now, there’s just more sharing. It’s a small world, as big as it is.”

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On the set of Armoire

Mark Montefiore

Owner, MontefioreFilms, Partner in New

Metric Media

Producer of several short films and inde-

pendent feature films, including Cas & Dylan,

which stars Richard Dreyfus and Tatiana

Maslany.

Playback Canadian Film & TV Hall of Fame

listed Montefiore in 2012 “10 to Watch”

Alumnus Holy Cross Catholic Secondary

School

www.montefiore.ca

Although he’s based in Toronto, Montefiore says his heart is still very much in St. Catharines.

Asked if he would like to see the city become a hub of creativity similar to the tech hotspots in Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa, Montefiore response is an enthusiastic yes.

“St. Catharines has a lot of potential (to create a hub like that) because it’s close to Toronto,” says Montefiore. “Niagara can operate on a global level. The only

reason I moved to Toronto is because there wasn’t anything in Niagara (to allow Montefiore to pursue his dream after leaving college). History has shown us many times that when the economy is tough, creativity and the arts flourish.”

He’s excited at the thought of the Niagara Integrated Film Festival, created by Toronto International Film Festival co-founder Bill Marshall, and what it has to offer to the area.

“I find those festivals so incredibly inspiring and exciting,” Montefiore says, encouraging anyone with an interest in the film industry to go, watch and learn.

Will he be there himself when Cas & Dylan is screened on June 22?

“I would, but I’ll be in Brazil for the World Cup,” he says.

In an interview with playbackonline.ca,

after being named one of Playback’s “10 to Watch” in 2012, Montefiore said he keeps two folders in his email account, one for rejections, and one called (lame excuses). The rejection email fills of up quickly, he says, and the lame excuses folder has ridiculous reasons he’s given for not getting a project off the ground.

He doesn’t let excuses get to him. The rejections serve as motivation.“Every so often I’ll open that up and I’ll take a look and I’ll go ‘ok,’ for every 10 rejections, there is one acceptance,” he told Playback. “And that’s what makes the acceptance so sweet.”

17

On the set of Armoire

Montefiore says he’s no different than the actors and actresses we see on TV and in movies: He’s just a guy with a dream.

“I go out to (Los Angeles) frequently,” he says. “It’s a busy town, and everybody’s out there selling something. Ninety-nine per cent of them are doing what they love doing. Everybody’s got a talent. Everybody’s got a dream.”

And his own dream?

There are many people Montefiore would love to collaborate with during his career. Among them are actor Gene Wilder (known for Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) and actor, writer and producer Robert Evans, known for Love Story, Rosemary’s Baby and The Godfather.

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Mark Montefiore and Jason Priestly (on screen Tatiana Maslany) in production for Cas & Dylan

Until he reaches that pinnacle, he will keep on his path, working toward the next big movie. Right now, that’s Ramington’s: Men of Steel, a comedy that’s part Blades of Glory and part Magic Mike.

He offers young people advice as they look at their own future careers, whatever they may be.

“It sounds silly, but if they’ve got a passion, they have to expect to find a million people who will say ‘no.’ They just have to find that one person who will believe in them and say yes.”■

Within months of graduating from Niagara College, Austin found himself working at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Ask him how it all happened and he’ll tell you. “It’s all because I chose NC. Niagara teaches you not only the skills you need to be successful in the industry but also the right attitude to keep moving forward in the industry,” he says.

Graduate, Broadcasting: Radio, Television and Film, 2013

Austin Munday

Dreams at work.

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If anyone had told Sam

Trivieri and Jacob Tyrer back in September that they would travel to California and compete in a worldwide robotics competition by spring, they would never have believed it. Sam and Jacob were part of a 10-member team of students from Assumption and St. Alfred Catholic Elementary Schools. They started the VEX Robotics season as absolute newbies, and finished it by ranking 37th out of 60 middle school teams from Canada, the United States, China, Korea, Colombia and Mexico. It’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for such young students – some of whom had never met each other, until they were thrown together as a team.

February 1, 2014 was one of those rare days in the winter, when kids could actually have been outside tobogganing or building snowmen, rather than being huddled up inside against the bracing cold.

But on that day, Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School was playing host to the St. Catharines VEX Robotics event, as well as a VEX IQ event, the only one of its kind in Ontario, aimed at provid-ing younger students who want to learn more about robotics the chance to do so. Eager to expose young minds to the exciting world of robotics, Jeff Maxwell, head of the school’s Robotics team, had invited elementary students from the Holy Cross Family of Schools to attend. He even made sure the schools would be able to participate in his event, by purchasing one starter kit for each ele-mentary school. Despite the positively balmy -3C tem-perature, elementary students cast aside their skates and sleds for joy-sticks and components to take part in the competition. “At the competition, St. Alfred and As-sumption students did an amazing job,” said Maxwell. “Since this was the first and only (VEX IQ) tournament hosted in Ontario, there was an opportunity for two teams to qualify for the World Championships. St. Alfred and Assump-tion not only competed against each other, but also showed great teamwork by helping each other throughout the competition. This earned them a spot to represent St. Catharines at the VEX IQ World Championship in Anaheim in April.”

From February through April, the stu-dents came together as a team to prac-tice and to get to know each other.

Jacob Tyrer had a little experience working with robots, but not quite the same kind.

“I did the (First Lego League) Robotics, so it was all about control, no strategy,” he said. Don Trivieri, a Grade 8 student at As-sumption Catholic Elementary School and his teammate Ryan Burns say they learned each other’s strengths pretty quickly. “They had a couple of good drivers, but they weren’t as good at strategy,” said Don. “But when we combined,” added Ryan, “we became a better team.”

While the robotics team, with the mon-iker The Robobirds, fine-tuned their skills, people were working behind the scenes to ensure every member of the team could go.

Getting on the plane, the students said they had no idea what to expect when they landed in Los Angeles.

“It really kind of hit home when we got (to the Anaheim Convention Centre),” said St. Alfred Principal Sue Troman-hauser. “There was this huge sign out in front and the entire convention centre was to be used by us.”

Participating at VEX was unlike any-thing any of the team members could ever imagine. “There was a school that didn’t have soccer or hockey or any-thing; all they did was robotics,” said Juan Vera-Suarez, a Grade 8 student at Assumption. In part of the compe-tition, the Robobirds were joined with other students from around the world to compete as a team. Tromanhauser and her colleague at Assumption, Claire To-fano, said it was incredible to see their students blossom as they met with stu-dents from around the world.

Robobirds make it to

California

20

“We were lucky to have Juan with us, because he speaks Spanish,”Troman-hauser said. “He walked around the centre and came back with bags and bags of things,” Sam added, referring to the pins and other souvenirs frequently traded during events such as these.

Lest anyone think the kids flew all the way to California without getting to do any sightseeing, rest easy. They took in a Stanley Cup playoff game between the Anaheim Ducks and Dallas Stars. They also visited Hollywood and Down-town Disney.

But while those things were fun for the kids, it was all about the robotics. That was good news for Maxwell, who says he loves to watch youngsters discover something new.

“I am all about creating opportunities for kids, they are our future innovators and I want to inspire them,” he says. “I know I would have loved to have some-thing this engaging when I was in high school. The VEX experience is some-thing that kids remember and enjoy. They take the skills they learned and apply them in their post-secondary ex-periences.” It’s also gratifying to the elementary principals to see their students so en-amoured with technology.

“It certainly sparked a

bug in all of them,” said

ClaireTofano, principal of assumption Catholic

Elementary School

21

St. Alfred and Assumption Catholic Elementary Schools, St. Catharines, Robobirds

“We didn’t just get to use our robots, we also got to see all kinds of robots and all kinds of kids from around the world,” said Juan. “Getting to watch the other robots com-pete at the different levels, and see all the different equipment; we had a $300 kit and some were much, much more advanced,” said Ryan. “I hope we make it to California again and have another good experience.” ■

The VEX Robotics Design System offers students an exciting platform to learn about robotics. Knowledge about robotics can stimulate students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership and problem-solving among groups.

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Tens of thousands of students participate in VEX robotics competitions at their schools around the world during the school year, with the hope of advancing to the VEX World Champtionships.

The 2014 VEX Robotics competition welcomed more than 15,000 students from the top 760 student-run robotics teams from 27 countries around the world, including our Niagara Catholic Robobirds. ■

“It was the first day of Grade 10 at Holy Cross Secondary School, St. Catharines. I walked into the classroom and looked around. There were 19 other students; 18 boys and one girl, none of whom I knew. I was placed in a class with students who were a grade or two older than me. I started to panic, as I also signed up for a class that taught something that I had no prior knowledge about. It was something out of my comfort zone and I was cautious about anything new that I knew I might not succeed in.”

Every day for a week I would come to class and tell myself, “you will not

drop this course. You are not a quitter.” Yet when I got home I would say the exact opposite. In the end I chose to stay; it was the best decision I ever made. I remember the first robot I ever made. At that point I was still afraid of not succeeding so I would stay after school trying to perfect that robot and also to learn more about robotics.

As I was listening to the experiences that other students and my teacher

had as a result of VEX Robotics, it made me excited about my choice to stay and what was to come as a result of that decision. I would stay after school, anywhere from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. every day, until my parents would start to worry. I would not spend those hours alone, building in isolation; I would be talking to the other students, sharing ideas or helping with the building process.

I became good friends with people I would not have met before if it were not

for robotics and for that I am grateful. That last-period Computer Engineering class was the one class I looked forward to every day and the one I missed the most when the semester was over.

If your team qualifies for the VEX Robotics World Championships,

attending it is something that you will never forget whether you are a driver, coach, scout, or in the audience competing in VEX IQ, VEX Middle School or High School, or in VEXU.

Robotics Changed My LifeBy Ashley Mazurkiewicz

This exhilarating four-day event brings thousands of people from all over the

world to compete with and against each other. Sometimes you will be aligned with teams that do not speak a mutual language, and together you overcome that. From these competitions, I have been able to put aside being an introvert for a while and speak to other students. This is something that I am grateful for as I have made friends from other parts of Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and Mexico; something that never would have occurred without robotics.

Now as a university student, robotics is something that has stayed with me

and something that I cannot get enough of. This has led me to mentor teams, volunteer at local events and to volunteer at this year’s world championships. Robotics has reinforced my decision to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering or math. Looking back, robotics was a challenge that I am thankful to have undertaken and hope that more students can share in the experience that is VEX Robotics.

Ashley Mazurkiewicz is a graduate of Holy Cross Catholic Secondary

School and just completed her first year Brock University. She was a member of the HC RoboRaiders 1505 Robotics team which competed at the VEX World Championship in 2013, and frequently comes back to work with the Holy Cross RoboRaiders team. ■

23

The Sidewalk Chalk Festival gives students an opportunity to express their creativity in a very public way, allowing the community to see their work in an “outdoor gallery.”

Patrons at the event were also treated to the sounds of the Saint Francis Jazz Band, and treats from the Culinary Arts Department in the Arts Café.

Anyone who has watched children’s

programming in the last 15 or 20 years is familiar with Neil Buchanan, the cheery Brit who took all manner of materials and turned them into massive works of art in fields, parks and pretty much anywhere there was a large enough space to display his talent.

Then there are the impressive 3D Sidewalk Art that turns up in our in-boxes and our social media feeds from time-to-time.

Inspired by this wild creativity, on May 28, art, music and drama students at Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines came together for the school’s 5th Annual Art in the Park, which included the Sidewalk Chalk Festival.

sidewalk Art Attack

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Jenna Lepine sits in a chair in the

hairstyling room at Notre Dame College School in Welland, entirely uncomfortable with all of the fuss being made over her.The Grade 9 student, newly appointed to the Minister’s Student Advisory Council, knew she would be profiled in a magazine, but had no idea it would be like a professional magazine experience, complete with hair, makeup and a photo session.

“I’m a little uncomfortable with this,” says the shy 15-year-old, who is Niagara’s only representative on the 60-member council of students from across Ontario. Later, during the photo shoot, she confesses, “I’m a little bit scared.”

If Jenna seems an unlikely person to put herself out there to join a provincial organization speaking on behalf of students, it’s because she is. In fact, Jenna’s story is the reason why she felt compelled to put her name out there for consideration in the first place.

Her story goes back to Senior Kindergarten, when she was part of a small, close-knit group of friends, which happened to include one boy.

As they grew older, Jenna and the boy stayed friends, which led to whispers from girls in her class. Then she got a retainer. It wasn’t long before she began being called “Brace-face.” Her friends slipped away. At first, they stopped playing with her at recess, excluding her from games. Then, she was accused of being hurtful toward others, and threatening to hurt other students.

“Every day was spent living in fear and anxiety of what they would do next,” she recalls. “Finally, I broke. I was sad and depressed. I’d had enough. I just wanted to close my eyes to the world and sleep. I told a friend I was going to commit suicide. She went to the office. My mom got the call and when she came home she found me on the couch.

A Voice for the Voiceless

28

I remember the look on her face. That night we talked about why I was feeling that way.”

If Jenna thought the worst was over at the end of Grade 7, she was mistaken.

“Grade 8 takes the title as the worst (year) yet. Because I had been with the same people for three years in the same class, lots of cliques had formed. You were either in or out. Naturally, I was out. I started self-harming.

People would ask me what was wrong, to which I would reply with a blank ‘nothing’ or a stare. People would taunt me as I walked down the hallway.

Eventually,my teachers and mom found out.

On the year-end trip, I was made to sit at the back of the bus with four empty seats. Taunted by the popular kids from Toronto to St Catharines, I had a breakdown in the back of the bus and started to cry.”

Jenna will tell you that she survived this time by “leaning into” her faith. In her thoughts, she was often led to church teachings, and the importance of caring for our bodies.

And then, salvation.

Shunned by the rest of her classmates at the Grade 8 graduation party, Jenna found herself buddied with a special-needs girl in her class. While some may have been put off by the idea, Jenna accepted it

gladly, as she believes all people should be like Christ on Earth for each other.

“I danced with her until she left,” she recalls. “In that moment, I realized that no matter what I had done, that this person didn’t care. She was full of life. Graduation night ended early for her. But I still remember when she turned around and wrapped her thin arms around me.”

29

Since starting high school, Jenna is

discovering that her voice, soft though it

may be, can advocate loudly for those who have no one to speak

for them and are unable to speak up for themselves. She hopes

to inspire others to find their voices, too.

Jenna was fortunate, in that her parents and, in particular, Grade 7 and 8 teachers, advocated for her throughout her troubled times. She realizes others are not that lucky.

After starting High School, Jenna became involved in the Dare to Dream initiative, through Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health in Ottawa.

Dare to Dream is a unique youth-led funding program that helps young people create and implement projects that promote mental health and well-being.

Through that program, Jenna was able to raise nearly $5,000 to create a relaxation station at her former school, Monsignor Clancy Catholic Elementary School in Thorold, where students who feel uncomfortable in the common areas in the school can find a place where they feel like they fit in. When the call for applications to the Minister’s Student Advisory Council was put out by the Ontario government in early 2014, Jenna was quick to answer.

Jenna said she believes there has to be greater advocacy for students who don’t know how to navigate the social

30

“My involvement in the 2013 Dare to Dream initiative helped me to recognize that although I am one

person, with one voice, when we as a community foster change, we are

giving a voice to the voiceless.”

Stories like Jenna’s are all too common in Niagara – where one in five or about 18,000 children and youth – live with a diagnosable mental illness. Jenna has found strength in sharing her story, so others will know that there is light out of the darkness.

If you or someone you love struggles with mental health issues, speak with a trusted family member, friend, teacher or support worker.

Pathstone Mental Health in Niagara has a crisis line that is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

For crisis support, call 1-800-263-4944.

Kids Help Phone is accessible 24-7 for those in crisis, at 1.800.668.6868. ■

system to get help when they need it. She also thinks that the voices most often heard at schools are the ones of the popular kids, many of whom come from privileged homes.

“The voices that are not heard belong to students who are marginalized for being different; those who struggle with mental health or are socially awkward as a result of bullying,” she says. “This is an area that is close to my heart. What would best practices look like so that a student could feel best supported by staff?”

Jenna says she hopes that by being involved with the Minister’s Youth Advisory Council, she will form a strong tie with the Notre Dame College Student Council, and send the message to other students who have often felt cast aside that they are equally important at school.

“I’m hoping that I can be an example for students who (don’t stand forward for student council and other positions at school) because they feel that such roles are reserved for the ‘in-crowd’ only,” she says.

Mike Gretzinger was 36 when

he first knew something was wrong.He was working as a chef and began feeling his legs go numb. Shortly afterward, he noticed his balance was not what it should be for a relatively young man; nor was his memory.

“I knew that something wasn’t right – but it took a long time for doctors to figure out what was wrong,” says Gretzinger.

His diagnosis – Parkinson’s Disease – came at age 42, six years after his first symptoms appeared.

According to the Parkinson’s Society of Canada, Gretzinger is one of 100,000 Canadians living with the disease. For those unfamiliar with Parkinson’s Disease, it is a progressive, degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. According to The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Parkinson’s Disease may be linked to genetics, or may be caused by toxins in the environment, but more research needs to be done to establish why some people’s brain cells begin to die off, causing the disorder. Most people recognize its most common symptom, shaking, but Parkinson’s also affects memory, other motions and emotions. People living with Parkinson’s may find themselves unsteady on their feet, unable to move their arms when they walk and some, like Gretzinger, also notice their memory is diminished. It can affect mood and because of the damage to nerves, many people find they are unable to show expression on their face. Others, like Gretzinger, find their face droops, almost mimicking the

appearance of someone who has had a stroke. Those symptoms, among others, can lead people living with Parkinson’s to a painful feeling of loneliness and isolation as they withdraw from society rather than have to constantly explain their symptoms.

“My personality is 100 per cent different now than it was three years ago,” he says. “I used to be much more social.”

In the end, Gretzinger knew he could not continue to perform at the level he needed to in a kitchen, but neither did he want to entirely leave his profession behind. Soon after taking off his chef hat for what he thought was the last time, Gretzinger began supply

teaching hospitality classes, sharing his knowledge with high school students. He attended Teacher’s College at the University of Windsor and is now the Hospitality and Tourism Teacher at Niagara Catholic’s specialized classroom inside the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Parkway Convention Centre in St. Catharines.

Since he began teaching, Gretzinger and his students have made hundreds, possibly thousands, of jars of fresh tomato sauce for distribution through local food banks. They have also prepared Christmas dinners for thousands more in the community who might otherwise go without, but he had yet to do anything to raise awareness of the illness that has silently been stealing his life.

That’s about to change.

Biking from Vancouver to Calgary for Parkinson’s Awareness

31

Mike poses with his bike

It was last Christmas when a young PhD in England named Jonny Stevens began following Gretzinger on Twitter. At just 34, Stevens was also living with Parkinson’s, and wrote a blog about his experience and how it had impacted his life.

Gretzinger was stunned to learn the young man had died suddenly on December 27, from issues related to the disease.

“That was really shocking for me, and I just knew that it was time for me to do something,” says Gretzinger. “I do a lot of working for the community, but I kind of always felt that I should do something for Parkinson’s.”

Currently, there is medication to help ease the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, but there is no cure. Gretzinger said other than people being familiar with the illness because it afflicts Hollywood actor (and Canadian) Michael J. Fox, he began thinking of ways he could raise awareness and funds for Parkinson’s research.

One of the peculiarities of Parkinson’s is that while Gretzinger’s balance isn’t great when walking, it is strong when he’s on two wheels. So he set about planning a bike trip this summer, which will take him from Vancouver to Calgary – a roughly 1,000-kilometre trip that is expected to take Gretzinger 16 days.

32

Mike Gretzinger - Hospitality and Tourism Teacher at Niagara Catholic District School Board

“I started thinking, and I realized that I am out on my bike a lot in the summer, and I thought about the idea of doing this trip ... They’re starting to realize that people with Parkinson’s do better on bikes, so I should be OK.”

Still, as Gretzinger notes, every day is a new adventure with Parkinson’s. Some days, he’s fit and strong. Other days are more of a challenge.

“My wife had to dress me this morning,” he said on the day we spoke for this story. “It was pretty bad. But every dayis different.”

Still, Gretzinger is not worried about his ability to complete the challenge he’s set for himself. His brother will accompany him for the first couple of days, but the rest of the trip will be a solitary journey. He hopes to gain support from people as he stops in cities and towns along the way, talking with people like him who are living with Parkinson’s and those who support them.

While he rides through the Rockies, Gretzinger says he’ll consider what comes next for him.

“There’s a good chance this could be my last year (teaching),” he says. “The memory part of it is very hard. I don’t want people to think that I’m not at the top of my game. It’s like watching a slow death in a lot of ways. With Alzheimer’s, they don’t know what’s happening, but I’m watching it happen to me.”

Mike Gretzinger, will be cycling to raise awareness about Parkinson’s Disease Gretzinger will leave in early July 2014 and hopes to raise funds for the Parkinson Society of British Columbia, the Parkinson Society of Southwestern Ontario and The Steve Ludzik Centre for Parkinson’s Rehab at the Hotel Dieu Shaver.

“I do a lot of work for the community, but I kind of always felt that I should do something for Parkinson’s.”

33

To find out how you can support and follow

Mike’s journey, visit his Facebook page:

/livingwithparkinsons. gonnashakeitoff2014

You can also contribute to any of the

organizations listed and say you’re doing it in

support of Mike. ■

Teens Thinking Beyond Themselves

34

Soo Kim and Bhavika Patel

students of Saint Paul Catholic High School, Niagara Falls are members of the youth branch of Kiwanis International Key Club. Key Clubs (no, there’s nothing about making keys, think Ki-wanis) are the oldest service clubs for youth in North America, and encourage youth to develop leadership skills through service to their local communities, as well as those in need around the world.

This past spring, Soo stepped down from her role as Lieutenant Governor of Division 4 of the Eastern Canada District of the Key Club, as she prepares to head to the University of Toronto to study Life Sciences. She is succeeded in this role by Bhavika Patel. In this article, Soo and Bhavika share their experiences with the Saint Paul Key Club, and their District organization.

Soo Kim

I joined the Key Club when I transferred to

Saint Paul in Grade 10. I was new and was looking for ways to get involved and to meet new people.

I was instantly welcomed to the Club by members whom I now consider my family. They showed me compassion and love and made me want to be a member and to serve the community.

Key Clubbers serve others with compassion and love through leadership, and I found that very inspirational. I wanted to be more than a member and take on a greater role and take initiative to be an active member of Key Club. That year, I ran for the position of Lieutenant Governor of our Division and served as a Board member of the Eastern Canada District. Being on the Eastern Canada District Board was a phenomenal experience that I will never forget.

Key Club is an organization that focuses on leadership, character building, caring and inclusiveness. By being a part of Key Club, I learned great leadership skills and communication skills that will help me for the rest of my life. Most importantly, I have made friends on the Board who are some of my closest friends today. I truly believe that being a member of Key Club has helped me develop these qualities, while giving me the opportunity to serve others.

Soo Kim and Bhavika Patel

Teens Thinking Beyond Themselves

35

Bhavika Patel

When I first started high school, the

only clubs I thought that were available to me were sports teams, which weren’t really an option for me because I’m not particularly athletic.

When I was “volun-told” to join the Saint Paul Kiwanis Key Club, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The very first few meetings were a bit hazy and to be honest, at first I only kept going back because they gave out candy to whoever showed up.

When I realized that Key Club was a student-led organization offering students a chance to build leadership skills through community service, I realized how unique this club was.

I immediately started to get involved: I went to school early to bake healthy treats for our Children’s Miracle Network bake sale; even though I never could bake and all my treats went in the trash.

As the years passed, I became more and more involved in a club that I had once thought made keys.

In Grade 11, I became the Eliminate Chair of the Saint Paul Catholic High School’s Key Club (The Eliminate Project is a partnership between Kiwanis and UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neo-

natal tetanus in the developing world) and I also ran for the position of the Lieutenant Governor.

I am proud to say that for the upcoming year I am the Lieutenant Governor of Division 4 of the Eastern Canada District and a member of the Eastern Canada District Board.

Being a member of Key Club has provided me with the opportunity to meet new people I would not have met any other way. It has also given me an understanding of what it means to do service for the community.

Key Club has been such an important part in my high school experience and I can`t wait to make my last year of high school memorable. ■

Soo Kim and Bhavika Patel

High school students today have more

opportunities to explore future career opportunities than ever before.

Whether it is through co-operative education, the Specialist High Skills Major Program (through which participants graduate with a Red Seal on their diploma and move to the front of the line for apprenticeships) or specialized camps and programs aimed at drawing students into much-needed fields across the spectrum from skilled trades to advanced science, the list of options seems limitless.

In addition to providing early exposure to a potential career pathway, these programs expose students to state-of-the-art equipment, and some of the most renowned minds in the country. In doing so, the goal is to encourage young people to enter fields of science, technology and trades, keeping their skills and talents in Canada.

Andrew West, a Grade 11 student at Lakeshore Catholic High School, learned that first-hand during the March Break.

Andrew has a keen interest in science, so he was quick to jump at the opportunity to apply for the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation’s Researcher for a Week Program, when it was presented to him late last year. The Foundation supports excellence in the research of human inherited disease, and offers four programs designed to build a sustainable, co-operative research community in Canada.

One of these is the Researcher for a Week Program, which offers 50 future scientists across the country the opportunity to immerse themselves for a week in a field of science and the chance to be exposed to some of the most brilliant researchers in Canada.

Andrew took part in a program at the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario, under the guidance of Dr. Robert Hegele.

Dr. Hegele has an impressive list of credentials as a doctor and as a researcher. He specialized in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, and spent four years of post-doctoral training, first at Rockefeller University in New York City learning about heart disease and cholesterol and later researching human genetics at Howard Hughes University in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition to research work and serving as Director of the Blackburn Cardiovascular Genetics Lab and London Regional Genomics Centre, Dr. Hegele also cares for 1,700 patients and has trained many new physicians and graduate students in the areas of lipidology and human genetics.

For Andrew, the opportunity to learn from the renowned, award-winning researcher through his lab at the Robarts Research Institute (Dr. Hegele has published more than 450 peer-reviewed articles, received numerous international awards recognizing his research and has been cited more than 9,000 times in biomedical literature, ranking him in the top 1 per cent of highly-cited scientists in the world on the ISI Web of Knowledge database), was incredible.

“I have always been interested in science; I guess I have a natural aptitude for science, and have always enjoyed watching science programs like Nature and Nova on TV.”

Entering the University of Western Ontario’s sprawling campus and going to the Robarts Research Institute’s state-of-the-art facility was incredible for Andrew, who had never taken part in such a program before. The Robarts Research Institute researches complicated medical conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Crohn’s Disease, cholesterols and human genetics.

“It was an excellent opportunity for me to learn from an expert,” Andrew says.After a brief tour and introduction, the students were immediately given the opportunity to begin their hands-on experience.

“I was greeted with a cup and told to spit,” he says. “As it turned out, we were going to isolate, replicate and sequence our own DNA. After some incubation and centrifuging, our samples were isolated and we then proceeded to prepare the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) mix and put our samples into the PCR machine to replicate our DNA overnight. We also got a detailed walk-through of the different ways in which DNA is sequenced.

Teen Jumps at Chance to Work with World-Renowned Scientist

36

Andrew West, Grade 11, Lakeshore Catholic High School, Port Colborne

37

When the DNA had replicated, we prepared two mixes to be sequenced and sent them off for testing.”

Andrew says this project took up the entire week and it was beyond any experience he could have imagined.

“It was very interesting and cool, and really gave a hands-on insight into what goes on in genetics labs. The Lab

Director, Matthew Ban, summed it up quite nicely, saying that it took humans 20,000 years to figure out what we had accomplished in three days.”

As part of its mandate to enable Canadians to lead the world in the discovery and advancement of cures for inherited disease, the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation and its Researcher for a Week program for high school students, gives participants the opportunity to experience different aspects of science and the laboratories during their camp.

“During our time there, we went on tours, and staff explained the basics of how most of the equipment there functioned. We also got to use many pieces ourselves, such as the PCR machines, the different centrefuges, pipettes and a non-drop photospectrometer.”

Andrew said he also had the opportunity to learn about extracting DNA from a blood sample, and to participate in seminars and thesis presentations.

“These were very interesting, and gave a taste of what life is like as a researcher,” he says. “There were also a few Undergraduate and Graduate students who were gracious enough to explain their work to us. Along with this, we were given tours of the campus, and even got to drop in on a few lectures.

38

Touring the university gave us some very valuable experience about post-secondary life. Having the opportunity to speak with students and staff relieved some of my anxiety about what to expect after high school.”

Andrew says participating in the program gave him a much better understanding of what to expect out of university. It’s an opportunity high school students would never have had a generation ago, when they had to wait and see whether an area of study was the right fit for them.

“Participating in the pro-gram gave me an excel-lent hands-on view of how things are accomplished in genetics research labs, and at university in general, being able to see one of my own genes on a paper was pretty amazing!”

While he’s still not entirely certain what he will study when he leaves high school, Andrew has a new area of interest to consider.

“I know I want to study something related to math or science – maybe engineering, or maybe medicine,” he says. “After having had the experience I had over the March Break, I am certainly going to have genetics high on my list of considerations for my life’s work.” ■

39

Michael Tolentino is a

Grade 12 student at Saint Michael Catholic High School in Niagara Falls, and is a budding scientist.

He won the Senior Silver Medal at the Niagara Regional Science and Engineering Fair in March, which allowed him to participate in the Canada-Wide Science Fair in May. Michael’s project, The Vitamin A Metabolite – A Study on the Growth and Development of Snails – won a Bronze medal at the national competition in May. Meet Michael, and find out more about this brilliant young mind.

Have you always been interested in science?When I was younger, I probably paid more attention to basketball, soccer and history than I did to science. My Grade 5 teacher at Father Hennepin Catholic Elementary School inspired me to learn more about science through a lesson on the human body, which I thought was fascinating

What’s your best subject in science? What’s your average?I don’t know that I have a favourite area of science. There are so many different things to appreciate about the various branches of science and then within the different subject areas. In Grade 12, my best subject is Chemistry. I have 97 per cent.

Where did you get your idea for your science fair experiment?I was very fortunate to take part in the Brock University Science Mentorship Program, where I had the opportunity to conduct research alongside a professor, while having access to the equipment supplied within their laboratory.

I was privileged to be mentored with Dr. Gaynor Spencer in the Department of Biological Sciences. I was blown away by the research and discoveries taking place in her lab with the use

of the Lymnaea stagnalis (great pond snail) and the active metabolite of vitamin A, retinoic acid. I wanted to implement some of her research into my own where I aimed to prove hypotheses that have never been researched before.

I really want to acknowledge Dr. Spencer and her lab members for their training, support and for treating me like a colleague while I learned from them, and my science teacher, Mr. Bruce Duns, who enrolled me in the program at Brock, for helping me really take my science experiment to the next level.

How long does a project like that take to complete?It took me about five months to accomplish the research I needed to do for my science project. But I am sure that if I went back and did further researcher, there is more that I can find to support my hypothesis.

Tell me a bit about what it’s like to compete at a national science competition. Is it intimidating?Were some of the judges famous scientists? What goes on during the event? The national science competition was the time of my life because it gave me the opportunity to spend a week

One on One with

Michael TolentinoYoung Scientist

with hundreds of brilliant minds that I am sure you will hear from in the near future. Going into the Canada-wide science fair (CWSF), I did not find it intimidating because I knew that I was able to use this opportunity to expand my network, and view what these brilliant minds have been working on for years.

During the week I accomplished exactly what I originally aimed for, and also managed to make new friends.

I was so intrigued by the things that were happening that I nearly forgot that I went there for the competition.

I did everything from taking pharmaceutical and medical lab workshops to sightseeing at Point Pelee on our last few days.

I believe that the week has also developed its contestants to becoming greater public speakers due to the judging and countless public viewings we had throughout the week-long event.

In the end, I left Windsor feeling accomplished; not because of the bronze medal that I had earned, but rather the countless memories and conversations that I will continue to cherish for a lifetime.

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You earned a Bronze – which is a pretty big deal – what’s that experience like, hearing your name called to come up on stage? To be honest, it still hasn’t sunk in that I won the bronze medal in my very first science fair. I think about the experience every day. I was astonished that my work was recognized as something comparable to that of great minds across the nation. I could not have asked for a better way to end the week, let alone my high school career, and I thank God for this honourable experience.

What’s next for you? You have two entrance scholarships – where are you going to school? What’s your course of study going to be?I am going to take Biomedical Sciences at Brock University, with the aspiration of becoming a pediatrician. But that may change as I study more in the field of biomedicine. Perhaps I may choose to study in the field of oncology or cardiology instead. Whatever my field of study, I plan to dedicate my life to helping people live better lives within their circumstances. ■

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Jaevin Spero and Dakota Lamb at the 2014 Wonderful Wishes Birthday Bash

KIDS DEFINE THE SPIRIT OF GIVING

In many ways, Jaevin Spero is a typical 13-year-old boy. He

plays ball hockey and soccer, is interested in shipwrecks (particularly the Titanic) and is looking forward to starting Grade 9 at Notre Dame Col-lege School in Welland in Sep-tember. But Jaevin is also different from his peers. The only boy in a family of five (he has two older sisters, and two young-er ones), Jaeven is keenly in-terested in community service above and beyond most peo-ple his age.

Jaevin was just five years old when he drew a portrait of his great-grandmother, who was living with Alzheimer’s. The portrait was posted on eBay by his mum, Brandy Ford, and promptly ignited a bidding war after media outlets in Toronto picked up on it.

“He said he wanted to raise money so the scientists could fix his great-grandma’s brain, so he asked me to post it on eBay,” says Ford. “We put it up there because we believe in supporting our children when they make these kinds of requests. We expected to buy it for $1 and say ‘good job.’”

Instead, the portrait sold to an unknown couple from the United States for $1,000, and another $1,600 was raised by the family for the Alzheimer’s Society.For Jaevin, that was just the beginning.

When he was 9, Jaevin was volunteering with his parents at The Hope Centre when he was struck by the need of children in the community.

“I asked if (The Hope Centre) could do anything for birthdays, and they said they didn’t, so I got the idea there,” says Jaevin. “The idea” was for Wonderful Wishes, a charity he created in 2010 to ensure children up to age 18 get something they want for their birthday.

Jaevin originally used money he earned on his paper route to buy gifts for kids, but soon was unable to keep up with the demand. Since 2010, Wonderful Wishes has been flooded with more than 300 requests from all over Niagara by families seeking assistance with birthday gifts, birthday cakes and party supplies – more than 70 of them alone in the past year.

To do more for children, Wonderful Wishes launched its first full-on fundraising event, the Birthday Bash, in 2012. That event, a low-cost, all-the-fun-you-could-want-for-a-family spectacle, raised funds and collected gifts that could be distributed throughout the year.

A similar event took place in 2013, and the 2014 Birthday Bash took place on June 8 in Welland.

It’s a lot of work to put together an event like this, but Jaevin says he’s fortunate to have family and friends support him in putting it all together.

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Among those friends is Dakota Lamb, Jaevin’s best friend who has been involved with Wonderful Wishes almost since the beginning.

Dakota says he became involved in helping others through Jaevin and his family.

Ford and her husband introduced the family to assisting in the community early. Dakota, who was usually by Jaevin’s side, often joined in, too.

“He came up with the idea (for Wonderful Wishes) and I kind of hopped on a couple of months in,” says Dakota, who was also on hand for the June 8 event at Club Richelieu.

Dakota says he likes helping out with the different aspects of the charity, from helping at the community events to pitching in to deliver gifts collected for kids in need.

“It’s a good feeling to help people,” he says.

Their principal at Alexander Kuska Catholic Elementary School, Mary Lou Vescio, couldn’t agree more.

“I’m incredibly proud to be principal of students like Jaevin and Dakota,” says Vescio. “It’s gratifying to see

the way they think of others ahead of themselves, and their dedication to Wonderful Wishes.”

For their part, Jaevin and Dakota are casual about the whole thing. They have been recognized in a number of ways, locally, provincially and internationally. They are past recipients of the Welland Tribune’s Great Kids of South Niagara Award, and have been recognized with a TVO Kids Super Citizen Award.

Jaevin and his younger sister Summer – who bills herself as a “toy advisor” with Wonderful Wishes” – have also been recognized by Kids Are Heroes, an organization started in 2009 by a nine-year-old Maryland girl who wanted to help animals, children and the environment.

Recognition is nice, they say, but that’s not their main focus.

So, what’s in it for them?Dakota says he takes satisfaction in knowing he’s helped brighten a child’s day.

“Knowing that a kid got a gift on their birthday that they might not have got because we helped them is just awesome,” he says.

It’s the same for Jaevin.

“I’ve always been a caring kid,” he says. “What I get out of it is the pleasure of seeing other kids having fun and getting what they want on their birthday. It makes me happy to see other kids happy.”

Asked if he sees turning his passion for helping students in this community into a full-time career like Craig and Marc Kielburger have done with Free the Children and Me to We, Jaevin’s not sure.

“I really dream of exploring shipwrecks, and I love chemistry, so maybe I’ll do something like that,” he says.

One thing he is certain about is that kids should never let their age hold them back from doing something they want to do.

“You can do whatever you want,” he says. “If it’s your dream, go for it. You just have to believe it will happen.”

If you would like to support Wonderful Wishes, please visit the Wonderful Wishes Facebook page at:

/jaevinswonderfulwishes ■

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Face painting at the 2014 Wonderful Wishes Birthday Bash

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Volunteering may be one of

the most valuable experiences in a person’s life. For youth, it provides valuable experi-ence that will help them find a job. For retirees, it keeps days busy and minds active.

Winston Churchill, who led Britain through its darkest hours of the Sec-ond World War is credited as saying, “You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.”

Earlier this spring, the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls Sunrise recognized two students from Saint Michael Catholic High School, Niagara Falls, for their outstanding level of community service to the residents of Niagara Falls.

The Rotary Club’s motto is Service Above Self, and it is clear that 15-year-old twins Claire and Eleen Lovell, who are in Grade 10, live by those words.

They are actively involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara Falls, where they have each volunteered an astounding 887 hours – the equivalent of nearly six months of work for most people – helping with the programs offered there.

Showcase reached out to Claire and Eleen to talk about why they are so involved in community service. Here’s what they had to say:

How did you get involved in volunteering?Claire: The staff of the Boys and Girls Club always took us on outings and taught us why it is important to be a leader and not a follower. When I

was 13, I started volunteering and showing children what it’s like to be a leader.

Eleen: I went to the (Boys and Girls Club) after school program because my mom was working and the staff started asking me to help with the children and fundraisers when I was about 10.

Why did you choose the Boys and Girls Club?Claire: I have been going there ever since I was a child, and I thought it would be fun to go and volunteer at a place where I grew up a lot.

Eleen: The Boys and Girls Club is like a second home to me. The staff became close friends and we all had fun together.

How long did it take to get 887 hours?Claire: It took me three years to get that many hours. I would go in the summer to help in the camps, as well as help with the after-school program.

Eleen: I volunteered after school from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In the summer, I went every day from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. and helped with their summer camps.

One on One with

Claire and Eleen LovellSuper Volunteers

What do you get out of volunteering?Claire: Knowing that some children looked up to me just for going out and spending time with them (is very rewarding).

Eleen: I like seeing the children happy and seeing them talking with and helping others.

What is the best part of it?Claire: The best part is getting to go out to the place that is important to me and knowing that I made a difference to someone.

Eleen: Being able to make kids happy at the end of the day and knowing that we are well-respected by staff and other volunteers.

What message would you send to others about the importance of community service?Claire: Community service isn’t just about getting hours, it is also about going out and having fun, knowing that you did something great for the community you live in.

Eleen: It doesn’t cost anything but your time and it helps many people.

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One on One Claire and Eleen Lovell, Super Volunteers ■

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rallying for a cureSurvivor and Caregiver Ceremony, honouring members of the BT community who are battling or survived cancer, and also a ceremony remembering those whose journey with cancer had come to an end. More than 350 students took part in the overnight event, which included games, movies, a talent show, and king around the school’s track, as a symbolic walk with those whose lives are touched by cancer. The overnight event also included students shearing their locks and donating their hair to make wigs for cancer patients.

At 8 a.m., May 24, approximately 70 students and staff travelled to St. Catharines to take part in the Rankin Run.

On May 23, students from Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Grimsby got in the Rankin sprit and held a 24-hour event in support of the 2014 Rankin Run, and raised more than $44,000 for the event through the first-ever Thunder Rankin Rally.

The event included a 2.7-kilometre walk, which brought together Blessed Trinity students with students from their elementary family of schools. The BT Thunder Drumline, Jazz Band, dance team and an excerpt from the school musical, The Wiz, were all part of the opening celebration.

After the elementary students returned to their schools, Blessed Trinity students and staff held a

The Rankin Run is one of the most visible and well-attended fundraising events in Niagara.

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