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Bob Edwards School awarded 2011 YMCA Peace Medal
The YMCA Peace Medal Award honours youth and adults who work towards advancing peace in their communities and abroad. It is fitting that this student council was honoured in its tenth year of operation. Founded in 2002 out of concern for issues of racism and discrimination, the Council’s motto is “Peace for Me, Peace for my School, Peace for the Community, Peace for the Earth.” This year, over 50 students are working on a number of student-initiated projects, including the following: Homelessness Awareness Week, bullying awareness events, a Plan Canada sponsorship, an in-school gratitude display, fundraising for the Horn of Africa, a Free the Children water project in Haiti, raising money to purchase books for a library in Nicaragua, and Human Rights Day. Each year, students and teachers come together to organize a school-wide Peace and Diversity Conference in March. Receiving the YMCA Peace Medal validates the work that students are doing. The students feel touched that the YMCA shows appreciation for all the people who are doing something to make the world a better place. “I especially appreciate that they are recognizing our youth organization as sometimes youth may get overlooked”, said Grade 9 student Morgan Davis. Attending the award ceremony was about much more than just receiving a plaque and a medal. “Attending the award ceremony was a great experience because we had the opportunity to meet inspirational people; and we got to talk to them, learn more about them and the work that they do,” said student Ore Oyewole. Karina Juma has been instrumental in initiating the school’s Free the Children project. She said, “it's a great feeling knowing that I belong to this inspiring movement." The students expressed gratitude to the students and teachers who came before them and laid the path for their journey towards a more peaceful community. “This award is no doubt theirs as much as it is ours,” says student Sophia Shah. Information on all the 2011 YMCA Peace Medal recipients.
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Teacher-advisors Mona Lutfy and Valerie Couture have been involved in mentoring and guiding the work of the Council for the past several years. Now with the growth in active student involvement this year, four more teachers have stepped forward to advise and supervise this group of students. 