SHOWCASE - Fall 2014
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<strong>SHOWCASE</strong>FALL <strong>2014</strong><br />
F.U.E.L.<br />
Igniting Girls<br />
to Succeed<br />
Hollo Maple<br />
Farms<br />
Working<br />
Together for a<br />
Better Niagara<br />
MATT VINC<br />
The Making<br />
of a Champion<br />
Amy Ball<br />
A Journey of<br />
Discovery<br />
Fr. Jim Mulligan, CSC<br />
Great Strides From<br />
Humble First Steps<br />
A Caring<br />
Canadian<br />
Grade 8 Student<br />
Receives National<br />
Award
6 |<br />
Film<br />
Cover Story<br />
Educating for Justice Fr. Jim<br />
Reflects on the Meaning of Pilgrimage<br />
4 | The Girl on the<br />
Screen<br />
Emily Stranges a<br />
Familiar Face<br />
Social Justice<br />
8 | Cross-Cultural<br />
Professional<br />
Development<br />
Dominican Teacher<br />
Learns About Life in<br />
Canadian Schools<br />
9 | From Portsmouth<br />
to Port Colborne<br />
Dominican Students<br />
Experience Life in the<br />
Great White North<br />
10 | In Their Words<br />
Students Share Why<br />
Pilgrimage is a Don’t-<br />
Miss Event<br />
12 | Funds Raised<br />
Pilgrimage <strong>2014</strong><br />
Students Share Why<br />
Pilgrimage is a Don’t-<br />
Miss Event<br />
Sports<br />
14 | One on One with<br />
Matt Vinc<br />
Teacher, Coach,<br />
Professional Athlete<br />
16 | F.U.E.L.-ing<br />
Success<br />
All-Girls’ Club<br />
Supports Physical and<br />
Mental Health<br />
19 | One on One with<br />
Makia Hunt<br />
On Track for Success<br />
Interest<br />
20 | The Desire to<br />
Make a Difference<br />
A Chance Meeting<br />
Changed Amy Ball’s<br />
Life<br />
24 | Being the Change<br />
Stephanie Kennedy<br />
is a Caring Canadian.<br />
She Has the Certificate<br />
to Prove It<br />
25 | Local Woman<br />
Student of<br />
Global Health<br />
Kaitlin Saxton Works<br />
Toward a Career in<br />
Global Health<br />
Cover and inset<br />
photos: Father<br />
Jim Mulligan, CSC,<br />
founder of the Notre<br />
Dame Pilgrimage,<br />
poses in the chapel at<br />
Notre Dame College<br />
School in Welland.<br />
Father Mulligan<br />
remains involved<br />
in Notre Dame's<br />
Pilgrimage nearly 40<br />
years later.<br />
Photos: Kevin Grant<br />
and Jonathan Lau,<br />
Notre Dame College<br />
School<br />
27 | Chemsabe: Cancer<br />
Warrior<br />
Cancer Changed Alana<br />
Sommerville. But it<br />
Didn’t Stop Her<br />
Community<br />
31 | Local Love<br />
Garden Project<br />
Schoolyard Garden<br />
a Labour of Love for<br />
Lydia Tomek<br />
34 | Building<br />
Communities<br />
Sam Iftody’s Farm is<br />
an Outdoor Classroom<br />
<strong>SHOWCASE</strong><br />
Last spring, the communications<br />
team at Niagara Catholic came<br />
up with a daring idea. Why<br />
not create our own magazine<br />
to share good news articles<br />
and uplifting stories with the<br />
community?<br />
We’re pleased to say the first<br />
issue of Showcase was a<br />
resounding success. We received<br />
many phone calls, emails and<br />
comments from people in our<br />
school communities – and<br />
across Niagara at large – saying<br />
how much they enjoyed reading<br />
about our students, staff and<br />
alumni and that they eagerly<br />
awaited the next issue.<br />
The wait is over.<br />
We are proud to share with you<br />
the second issue of Showcase,<br />
which once again features<br />
inspiring stories about our<br />
students, staff and alumni. In<br />
this issue of Showcase, you will<br />
read about individuals testing<br />
their limits and overcoming<br />
adversity, sharing their unique<br />
gifts and talents with others,<br />
and doing good at home and<br />
around the world.<br />
As we pledged in our first issue,<br />
this edition of Showcase will<br />
entertain, enlighten and inspire<br />
you. We hope the stories you<br />
read will linger with you and<br />
will serve as a reminder that<br />
Catholic education is alive and<br />
well in Niagara and is a positive<br />
force within our community.<br />
The communications<br />
team<br />
© <strong>2014</strong> Showcase is<br />
a publication of the<br />
Corporate Services<br />
and Communications<br />
Department of the Niagara<br />
Catholic District School<br />
Board. Visit us at<br />
www.niagaracatholic.ca<br />
2
One on One with<br />
Emily<br />
Stranges<br />
The Girl<br />
On-Screen<br />
By Julianna Garofalo<br />
For Emily<br />
Stranges, a<br />
Grade 12 student<br />
at Saint Michael<br />
Catholic High<br />
School, life is just<br />
like the movies.<br />
At only 17, her<br />
filmography<br />
includes<br />
approximately<br />
10 short films,<br />
six Public Service<br />
Announcements,<br />
five commercials,<br />
four music videos<br />
and one feature<br />
film, including a<br />
cameo in Disney’s<br />
Camp Rock and<br />
a starring role<br />
alongside My<br />
Big Fat Greek<br />
Wedding’s Louis<br />
Mandylor. Meet<br />
Emily, and get the<br />
buzz on this up and<br />
coming actress.<br />
When did you get started<br />
in acting?<br />
When I was three years old, I<br />
would make up little plays at<br />
home, re-enact movies, and<br />
sing songs from the Disney<br />
musicals. I nagged my parents<br />
until they finally started to<br />
take me seriously. Eventually,<br />
when I was 10, I got my first<br />
agent.<br />
What are you best known<br />
for?<br />
I think most people would<br />
recognize me from the<br />
commercials I did for the<br />
Family Channel.<br />
I remember those! They<br />
were on in-between<br />
shows.<br />
Yeah! People would ask me<br />
“Emily, is that you?” and I<br />
would say “Nope! I have a<br />
twin.” Before those aired, no<br />
one knew I was an actress. I<br />
felt like Hannah Montana (the<br />
fictional character played by<br />
Miley Cyrus on the Disneyproduced<br />
tween program)<br />
taking off her wig for the first<br />
time.<br />
What other projects have<br />
you been a part of?<br />
I have gotten to work on a lot<br />
of amazing sets. I especially<br />
loved shooting a campaign<br />
for Mother’s Against Drunk<br />
Driving (MADD,) a movie<br />
called Tension(s), and a short<br />
film named Damian.<br />
The MADD project, Shattered,<br />
was shot in a flipped-over car<br />
that was held up by a crane.<br />
I was able to meet and talk<br />
with people who have been<br />
affected by drunk driving.<br />
It was such an eye-opening<br />
experience. It was shown<br />
in high schools all over the<br />
country, so I was very proud<br />
to be a part of it.<br />
Tension(s) was my first<br />
feature film. I played Louis<br />
Mandylor’s daughter and<br />
went through basic combat<br />
training, which was really<br />
cool. A few months ago, it was<br />
shown at Festival De Cannes<br />
in France. It was really well<br />
received. In fact, it was picked<br />
up and sold to a production<br />
company that wants to release<br />
it.<br />
And Damian was a thriller<br />
about a family of four who<br />
move into a new house. To<br />
explain the scratching sounds<br />
we hear at night, I tell my<br />
little brother that a boy named<br />
Damian lives in the walls.<br />
Then... actually, I shouldn’t<br />
give it away! For that role,<br />
I won an award at MIFF<br />
(Mississauga Independent<br />
Emily Stranges is<br />
an aspiring actress<br />
who has already<br />
performed in a<br />
number of TV shows<br />
and movies.<br />
Film Festival) for Best Female<br />
Actress.<br />
What have you been<br />
working on recently?<br />
I just finished another short<br />
film about two sisters and the<br />
impact depression and suicide<br />
has on a family.<br />
Also, not too long ago, I<br />
booked voice work for the<br />
first time. I recorded PSAs<br />
for the Canadian Women’s<br />
Foundation about human<br />
trafficking, child prostitution,<br />
and sex trade. They can be<br />
heard on television, radio<br />
and in theaters nationwide. I<br />
am glad to have helped raise<br />
awareness.<br />
Do you enjoy watching<br />
yourself act? How does<br />
your family react when<br />
they see you on-screen?<br />
I am my harshest critic. It took<br />
me a really long time to learn<br />
how to watch as an actress<br />
watching another actress<br />
instead of me watching<br />
myself.<br />
My family is extremely<br />
4
Emily Stranges<br />
confers with Director<br />
Martin Bennett on the<br />
set of The Ray-Gun: A<br />
Love Story, in 2013<br />
Photos supplied by<br />
Emily Stranges<br />
supportive. Earlier this year<br />
my entire family was in the<br />
audience for the filming of<br />
The Ray-Gun: A Love Story. I<br />
had my first on-screen kiss in<br />
the film and I could see my<br />
dad with his hands over his<br />
eyes for the scene.<br />
What is the best part<br />
about being an actress?<br />
What is the worst part?<br />
I love escaping into a<br />
character. I didn’t feel like<br />
I belonged anywhere until<br />
I became an actress. Acting<br />
is something that I love and<br />
something that loves me.<br />
But, it is a really tough<br />
business. It has definitely<br />
made my skin a lot thicker.<br />
Depending on the time of<br />
year, in a week, I memorize<br />
up to five scripts and go to<br />
three or four auditions. Once,<br />
I wore a loose-fitting shirt to<br />
an audition and afterward<br />
the casting director emailed<br />
my agent saying I was “a little<br />
thick around the middle” and<br />
that she couldn’t even pay<br />
attention to my acting.<br />
How do you deal with<br />
such cruel rejection?<br />
I learned at a very young age<br />
that if [someone is] trying to<br />
bring me down to my lowest<br />
point, it’s really going to<br />
bring me to my highest point<br />
because it only makes me<br />
want to prove them wrong.<br />
Where did you learn that<br />
lesson?<br />
In elementary school, I tried<br />
to keep my acting a secret<br />
because I knew the other kids<br />
would tease me. One time,<br />
I did a music video for the<br />
song, Little Bird by Hexes and<br />
Ohs and some girls found<br />
the video on YouTube. They<br />
paused it and took screen<br />
shots. At times my face looked<br />
funny and set them as their<br />
profile pictures on Facebook.<br />
Stupid things like that!<br />
But now I know how to make<br />
the best out of hate. For<br />
example, I used to struggle<br />
with crying on camera. I<br />
couldn’t open up until I learned<br />
to let the torment count for<br />
something and channel it in a<br />
way that made me stronger.<br />
What is next for you?<br />
I want to continue to grow<br />
and improve. I am now a<br />
member of the Alliance of<br />
Canadian Cinema, Television<br />
and Radio Artists (ACTRA)<br />
and I was accepted to the<br />
prestigious acting school,<br />
Pro Actors Lab in Toronto. I<br />
attend weekly classes. David<br />
Rotenberg, the same teacher<br />
who coached stars like<br />
Rachel McAdams and Scott<br />
Speedman, mentors me.<br />
I would also love to study<br />
producing, directing,<br />
cinematography and screen<br />
writing after high school. I am<br />
very passionate about music<br />
as well.<br />
Wow! What instruments<br />
do you play?<br />
I sing and play the ukulele,<br />
guitar, piano and saxophone...<br />
and the spoons. [Laughs] Just<br />
kidding!<br />
What advice can you<br />
offer to aspiring actors/<br />
actresses?<br />
Be yourself, be committed and<br />
work hard. Acting requires<br />
a lot of sacrifice. I can’t hang<br />
out with friends or go to<br />
parties because I have to run<br />
lines or be on set. I spend my<br />
money on new headshots,<br />
dialect classes, and workshops<br />
instead of shopping sprees.<br />
But, I don’t feel like I am<br />
missing out because I am<br />
doing what I love.<br />
What do you hope to<br />
accomplish in your acting<br />
career? What is your<br />
main goal?<br />
I know it sounds cheesy, but<br />
my main goal is to be happy<br />
and make other people happy.<br />
Do you want to be<br />
famous?<br />
It honestly doesn’t matter. I<br />
just want to enjoy my career.<br />
Nothing compares to the<br />
feeling of the director calling<br />
“... Sound, Speed, Lights,<br />
Camera, Action!” It’s my<br />
favourite thing. I love it. ■<br />
5
Educating<br />
for Justice<br />
By Father Jim Mulligan, CSC<br />
My first assignment as<br />
a Holy Cross Father<br />
in 1969 was to teach<br />
religion and French at<br />
Notre Dame College School<br />
in Welland<br />
In 1976, after a sabbatical<br />
in France to advance<br />
my studies, I returned<br />
to Notre Dame to teach<br />
religion. I proposed to<br />
the principal and several<br />
key teachers at the school<br />
the idea of a pilgrimage<br />
– a holy walk. The idea<br />
had been percolating<br />
in my mind since my<br />
studies in Paris, where<br />
I had participated in a<br />
pilgrimage, walking with<br />
university students from<br />
Paris to the magnificent<br />
cathedral of Chartres.<br />
was very taken with the notion of<br />
I a pilgrimage as metaphor for faith<br />
and life. I imagined three pillars that<br />
would serve as a foundation for such<br />
an endeavour: Fundraising to support<br />
projects in a developing country,<br />
witnessing to faith and educating for<br />
justice.<br />
The fundraising effort of Miles for<br />
Millions, a Canadian campaign<br />
launched in 1967 to raise funds to<br />
alleviate world hunger, had ended,<br />
creating the opportunity for a similar<br />
initiative to assist the developing world<br />
from here in Niagara. The idea was<br />
simple: Pilgrims would raise money<br />
for each kilometre they walked, with<br />
the money raised divided between<br />
supporting a Holy Cross mission<br />
in Bangladesh, India or Peru, and<br />
The Canadian Catholic Organization<br />
for Development and Peace.<br />
The faith experience is the second<br />
pillar of the pilgrimage.<br />
pilgrimage is a faith experience, a<br />
A walk to a holy place. As Niagara<br />
does not have a shrine for Pilgrims to<br />
walk to, another location is designated<br />
as the holy site. Once there, pilgrims<br />
participate in Mass. In most instances,<br />
this is the school gym, although pilgrims<br />
from Denis Morris Catholic High School,<br />
Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School<br />
and Saint Francis Catholic Secondary<br />
School in St. Catharines each walk<br />
from their individual schools to the<br />
Market Square in downtown, where<br />
they share the Eucharist and walk in<br />
solidarity, before returning to their<br />
own schools after lunch. In Niagara<br />
<strong>Fall</strong>s, Saint Michael Catholic High<br />
School and Saint Paul Catholic High<br />
School take turns hosting the event.<br />
At Notre Dame College School, where<br />
the Pilgrimage originated, a candlelight<br />
service is held at the end of each walk.<br />
One flame becomes many, as light<br />
is spread throughout the assembly.<br />
Educating for justice is a vital piece of<br />
the pilgrimage experience.<br />
The preparation for the walk that<br />
takes place in the school and across<br />
the curriculum in the weeks leading<br />
up to Pilgrimage Sunday is the third<br />
pillar to the pilgrimage experience.<br />
Over the past 39 years, a different<br />
question of justice and peace has<br />
been presented, giving students the<br />
opportunity to reflect on Catholic<br />
social teachings. By pondering these<br />
questions, students develop critical<br />
thinking skills that encourage them to<br />
think beyond what they see or read.<br />
It is important to show people how<br />
modern society often makes it easy<br />
to stray from gospel teachings; and<br />
equally important to impress upon<br />
students the way in which we are all<br />
interconnected and interdependent,<br />
making us responsible for one another.<br />
Nearly four decades have passed<br />
since the first Pilgrimage took place<br />
in Welland. Thousands of miles have<br />
been walked in support of people in<br />
developing nations around the world.<br />
That it has withstood the changing<br />
times, and grown to become one of<br />
the most anticipated dates on the<br />
school year calendar proves it is a very<br />
important part of life in our Catholic<br />
high schools. It is also very important<br />
to the communities that have benefitted<br />
from some of the $2.6 million raised ■<br />
6
Fr. James T.<br />
Mulligan, CSC<br />
...<br />
Education<br />
University of Notre Dame, Indiana<br />
(Philosophy)<br />
Gregorian University, Rome<br />
(Theology)<br />
Institut Catholique, Paris<br />
(Matrîse in Catechetics)<br />
University of Toronto, Toronto<br />
(Doctor of Ministry)<br />
...<br />
Ministry<br />
Religious Education Teacher<br />
25 years<br />
Faith formation for educators<br />
Ontario<br />
Catholic education and evangelization<br />
Lectured Canada-wide<br />
Education and social justice portfolios<br />
Congregation of Holy Cross, Rome<br />
Pastor of St. Kevin’s Parish,<br />
Welland, ON. 9 years<br />
Associate Pastor, St. Kevin’s<br />
January <strong>2014</strong><br />
...<br />
Author<br />
Evangelization and the<br />
Catholic High School – 1990<br />
Formation for Evangelization – 1994<br />
Catholic Education:<br />
The Future Is Now - 1999<br />
Catholic Education:<br />
Ensuring a Future - 2005<br />
Catholic Parishes and Schools<br />
Working Together - in progress<br />
...<br />
Recognitions<br />
Niagara Catholic District School<br />
Board Catholic Educator Award of<br />
Distinction<br />
Fellow of St. Mary’s University<br />
College in Calgary, Alberta<br />
7
Cross-<br />
Cultural<br />
Professional<br />
Develpment<br />
By Gregory Daniel, Teacher<br />
at the St. John’s Academy,<br />
Portsmouth, Dominica<br />
Our trip to Canada<br />
earlier this year was<br />
a dream come true, not<br />
only for the teachers and<br />
students who participated,<br />
but for St. John’s Academy<br />
and its administration,<br />
whose vision it was to<br />
commence a robust school<br />
exchange program shortly<br />
after the school opened in<br />
September 2012.<br />
Canada came as a natural choice<br />
since we already had a relationship<br />
with the Niagara Catholic District School<br />
Board; particularly with Lakeshore<br />
Catholic High School in Port Colborne.<br />
Jason Benoit, a teacher at Lakeshore<br />
Catholic, and his wife Amber, who<br />
teaches at Saint Michael Catholic High<br />
School in Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s, lead students on<br />
a three-month co-operative experience<br />
to Dominica every other year, and have<br />
become very close and trusted friends<br />
to all of us at St. John’s Academy.<br />
Our close relationship with the Benoit’s<br />
made preparations on the Canadian<br />
side seamless. After taking care of<br />
arrangements back home in Dominica,<br />
it was time to embark on what would<br />
turn out to be a tremendous experience<br />
we will all remember for a lifetime.<br />
There was so much excitement<br />
from our parents, students and<br />
school community when our principal,<br />
Dr. Juliana Magloire, announced<br />
that everything was in place for our<br />
exchange trip to Lakeshore Catholic.<br />
On April 22, my colleague, Kathleen<br />
Frederick, and students Aaranthi<br />
Joseph, Daisy Charra, Kyra Ettiene,<br />
Chari Peter and Denzel Alfred and I<br />
arrived in Toronto and made our way<br />
to our “home” community in Niagara.<br />
8<br />
Members of the school community at the St. John's Academy in Portsmouth, Dominica,<br />
travelled to Niagara in April, to visit Lakeshore Catholic High School. Lakeshore<br />
Catholic has a strong tie with the school, walking for many programs in the community<br />
during the annual Pilgrimage.<br />
It took us some time to get used<br />
to the cold – in Dominica, it seldom<br />
drops below 80 degrees. When<br />
we arrived in Canada, it was barely<br />
above freezing. But the warmth of our<br />
new friends and colleagues at Lakeshore<br />
Catholic kept our spirits high,<br />
even if the temperature was low.<br />
Our stay in Canada was filled with so<br />
many uplifting educational, spiritual<br />
and recreational activities. Our students<br />
attended class from Monday to Friday<br />
for three weeks, and were delighted<br />
and excited by the opportunity to learn<br />
in a different educational system. The<br />
science students in particular were elated<br />
that they were able to use high-tech<br />
equipment which they are otherwise<br />
not exposed to back home in Dominica.<br />
The experience was made even better<br />
by the kindness of Lakeshore’s principal<br />
Mr. Glenn Gifford, Mr. Jason Benoit<br />
and the rest of the staff. We are grateful<br />
to them, and to the students at Lakeshore<br />
Catholic, who welcomed us so warmly<br />
and made us feel like we were at home.<br />
Of course no visit to this part of Canada<br />
would be complete without a<br />
visit to the world-famous Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s,<br />
and all of the fun attractions in that city.<br />
We also visited the St. Catharines<br />
Museum and Welland Canal Centre,<br />
which was a great experience as we were<br />
able to learn a bit about Canada’s history.<br />
We just wish we had seen one of those<br />
big ships go through the Welland Canal.<br />
As the saying goes, “All good things<br />
must come to an end,” and all too<br />
soon it was time to return home. We<br />
are so grateful to the students at Lakeshore<br />
Catholic who raise money for our<br />
community during their annual Pilgrimage,<br />
and for the strong tie we have to<br />
the school through the International<br />
Co-operative Experience Program.<br />
We hope that others from the<br />
St. John’s Academy will share<br />
in this wonderful learning experience<br />
in the future. Thank you to everyone<br />
from Niagara Catholic, who<br />
worked so hard to make this trip such<br />
an incredible experience for us. ■
Dominica<br />
Dominica is a lush, tropical island in<br />
the Caribbean. It is approximately<br />
751 square kilometres in size,<br />
or less than half of the size of<br />
the Niagara Region. Its capital<br />
is Roseau. It is a Parliamentary<br />
Democracy, and laws are based on<br />
English law.<br />
Dominica has a population of<br />
approximately 73,450 (as of<br />
July, <strong>2014</strong>), with an average life<br />
expectancy of approximately 76.5<br />
years.<br />
Public school education in Dominica<br />
is free and education is mandatory<br />
between the ages of 5 and 15<br />
years. Ninety-four per cent<br />
of the population is literate.<br />
Education is based on both the<br />
British and North American school<br />
systems.<br />
English is the primary language<br />
spoken in Dominica. The majority<br />
of residents – about 61 per cent –<br />
are Roman Catholic.<br />
The average income in Dominica<br />
is $14,600.<br />
Dominica’s economy is based<br />
largely on agriculture, in<br />
particular, on bananas. The<br />
government has sought to diversify<br />
the economy in recent years, and<br />
has sought to make Dominica<br />
a destination for ecotourism. It<br />
has also developed a successful<br />
offshore medical education sector,<br />
and is attempting to develop a<br />
similar program for the financial<br />
sector. In addition, the government<br />
has plans to sign an agreement with<br />
the private sector to harness the<br />
island’s volcanic base to develop<br />
geothermal energy resources.<br />
Sources: The CIA World Factbook,<br />
The United Nations Development<br />
Program and the Education<br />
Encyclopedia.<br />
From<br />
Portsmouth<br />
to Port<br />
Colborne<br />
By Aarathi Joseph, Student<br />
at the St. John Academy,<br />
Portsmouth, Dominica<br />
In October 2013, the<br />
students of Lakeshore<br />
Catholic High School<br />
visited our beautiful<br />
Caribbean island. Besides<br />
volunteering throughout<br />
the community of<br />
Portsmouth, the 20<br />
students and Mr. and Mrs.<br />
Benoit visited our school<br />
to make a connection<br />
between my school,<br />
the St. John’s Academy<br />
and Lakeshore Catholic<br />
High School, which has<br />
supported our community<br />
for many years. Our class<br />
planned social activities<br />
with the exchange<br />
students and decided to<br />
have a moonlight picnic<br />
on the Purple Turtle<br />
Beach, in Portsmouth.<br />
Now, it was our turn to<br />
visit Canada!<br />
From the time the principal of our<br />
school, Dr. Juliana Magloire, stepped<br />
into our classroom to announce that<br />
an invitation had been extended to the<br />
students of Form 4 to visit Lakeshore<br />
Catholic High School in Ontario,<br />
Canada, the room immediately became<br />
filled with excitement and enthusiasm.<br />
Could that be really happening? Was<br />
this really an invitation to visit a school<br />
in Canada? WOW! We are going to have<br />
an experience of a lifetime.<br />
Travelling from such a small<br />
Caribbean island to a much larger,<br />
more developed country was quite<br />
overwhelming. We had already<br />
anticipated that life in Canada would be<br />
drastically different than our life on the<br />
island, and we were anxious to begin<br />
our new adventure.<br />
From our arrival at the airport in<br />
Toronto, to the end of our three-week<br />
visit, we were treated with nothing but<br />
care, kindness and warmth by everyone<br />
we met. The students, teachers and<br />
staff of Lakeshore Catholic High School<br />
never allowed us to feel like outsiders,<br />
or that we did not belong. They took any<br />
and every step possible to make us feel<br />
comfortable. We made new friends and<br />
adapted to the new school environment<br />
and learning methods easily.<br />
We were amazed by the differences<br />
between our school day and<br />
a school day in Canada. We were<br />
also surprised by how much bigger<br />
Lakeshore Catholic High School is than<br />
the St. John’s Academy. There are many<br />
more students at Lakeshore Catholic,<br />
and also more facilities (an auditorium,<br />
gymnasium, laboratories and library),<br />
along with more advanced technology<br />
available for use by the students. We<br />
also had to adapt to attending fewer<br />
classes during the day than we are used<br />
to, and having classes that last much<br />
longer.<br />
Exchange programs may be common<br />
in other parts of the world, but not<br />
in Dominica. My classmates and I,<br />
along with the teachers who sacrificed<br />
their time to accompany us, were<br />
truly blessed to be graced with this<br />
opportunity, as we were one of the first<br />
on the island to engage in a program of<br />
this sort. We are very privileged to have<br />
had this advantage. ■<br />
9
in their<br />
words<br />
Students speak out about what<br />
the pilgrimage means to them<br />
“To me, Pilgrimage represents our<br />
school as a team; working together<br />
for the good of our global community.<br />
We combine our talents, skills, and<br />
faith to create something meaningful.<br />
Pilgrimage represents unity; our<br />
world as one family.”<br />
daniela lozano,<br />
Grade 9, Blessed Trinity<br />
Catholic Secondary School<br />
...<br />
“Pilgrimage means helping people<br />
who are unable to stand up for<br />
themselves, and making sacrifices<br />
for the benefit of others who are less<br />
fortunate.”<br />
anthonie korstanje,<br />
Grade 10, Blessed Trinity<br />
Catholic Secondary School<br />
...<br />
“To me, Pilgrimage is an opportunity<br />
to be the answer to another person’s<br />
prayers. We all have hardships<br />
and struggles in our lives, some<br />
much worse than others. For us, it<br />
is so simple to wake up and walk<br />
the Pilgrimage, yet it means so<br />
much to those who live in Haiti and<br />
Guatemala. Pilgrimage is my chance<br />
to make a change that has minimal<br />
sacrifice for me but maximum<br />
reward for others. That is the goal of<br />
a life lived in service of others.”<br />
“Pilgrimage to me is coming together<br />
as a community to make a significant<br />
change in the world around us. It<br />
is sacrificing a morning of rest to<br />
participate in a walk that is nothing<br />
compared to the distance people<br />
in many places around the world<br />
have to travel for school, fresh water<br />
or medical care. Pilgrimage is a<br />
humbling experience that leaves us<br />
endlessly thankful for the blessings<br />
we have in life.”<br />
sarah solorzano,<br />
Grade 12, Denis Morris<br />
Catholic High School<br />
...<br />
“The Pilgrimage means so much<br />
to me; more than getting five<br />
community service hours or talking<br />
and walking with friends; it is<br />
an opportunity for personal and<br />
spiritual growth, as well as inner<br />
change. This is truly one time a year<br />
where I feel personally fulfilled, like<br />
I have done God’s work. Nothing else<br />
gives me this feeling of happiness<br />
and pride like walking in the<br />
Pilgrimage because I am making a<br />
difference as a young person, and<br />
showing others that young people<br />
can make a difference.”<br />
miriam gohar, Grade 10,<br />
Holy Cross Catholic<br />
Secondary School<br />
...<br />
“For me, Pilgrimage is the coming<br />
together of my friends - all of them,<br />
old and new, from all grades - coming<br />
together for a common cause.”<br />
jennifer torres<br />
velasquez, Grade 10,<br />
Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School<br />
...<br />
“I think that participating in the<br />
(Pilgrimage) is a great opportunity<br />
for students to give to those in need,<br />
and participate in an activity that<br />
contributes to a better tomorrow.<br />
As the youngest of three kids, I grew<br />
up hearing about the walk and the<br />
impact it left on my older siblings.<br />
Having met students from Dominica<br />
last year, I really believe that our<br />
direct connection with the people in<br />
Dominica have impacted their lives<br />
in a positive way.”<br />
michaela bodis,<br />
Grade 11, Lakeshore<br />
Catholic High School<br />
...<br />
“(The Pilgrimage) is a chance for all<br />
of us to come together as a family, not<br />
just as a school community, but even<br />
with our brothers and sisters from<br />
Dominica. (Pilgrimage) is a chance to<br />
connect and embrace the things we<br />
can accomplish as a whole.”<br />
taya sorge, Grade 12,<br />
Lakeshore Catholic<br />
High School<br />
...<br />
“It is not so much what the<br />
Pilgrimage means to me, but what<br />
it means to the people it supports.<br />
To them it means food, water,<br />
education. To them it means hope<br />
and opportunity. It means a small<br />
amount of effort for me, but it can<br />
mean the world for someone in need,<br />
and that is what the walk means to<br />
me. That is why I walk.”<br />
shirley andrews,<br />
Grade 11, Notre Dame<br />
College School<br />
...<br />
meagan flus, Grade 12,<br />
Denis Morris Catholic High School<br />
...<br />
10
“Pilgrimage is a tradition that I<br />
am proud to be a part of. To me,<br />
Pilgrimage is a way to show our<br />
solidarity with those in need in our<br />
world. By walking we are promoting<br />
justice and making a change in<br />
the lives of others and we are also<br />
creating a tighter community here<br />
at home. It makes me feel good to<br />
know that I am helping to make a<br />
difference.”<br />
alex diPaola,<br />
Grade 11, Notre Dame<br />
College School<br />
...<br />
“Pilgrimage brings the Saint Francis<br />
community closer together every<br />
year. We join together to raise<br />
money and awareness for people in<br />
need. It gives us a chance as Catholic<br />
students to help other kids in need<br />
around the world.”<br />
leah d’aloisio,<br />
Grade 11, Saint Francis<br />
Catholic Secondary School<br />
...<br />
“Pilgrimage means raising money for<br />
families in need and putting a smile<br />
on their faces. It means bringing our<br />
schools together as one to accomplish<br />
miracles. Pilgrimage means giving<br />
kids around the world the same<br />
opportunities as us.”<br />
gavino oresta, Grade 12,<br />
Saint Francis Catholic<br />
Secondary School<br />
...<br />
“Every year I walk the Pilgrimage<br />
because it gives me a chance to be<br />
with my friends while bringing<br />
awareness to our community about<br />
people in Rwanda. It is important to<br />
me to be a part of something that is<br />
bigger than myself and my friends.<br />
By participating, we are showing that<br />
we truly care about the world around<br />
us.<br />
Our small walk represents the steps<br />
that our brothers and sisters in other<br />
parts of the world have to take just to<br />
get access to resources that we take<br />
for granted, like water, healthcare<br />
and education. My participation<br />
in Pilgrimage and on Pilgrimage<br />
Committee is a way to connect me to<br />
others, even those living on the other<br />
side of the world.”<br />
megan lee,<br />
Grade 11, Saint Michael<br />
Catholic High School<br />
...<br />
“Being a part of the Pilgrimage<br />
means seeing beyond the borders<br />
which divide us, and connecting with<br />
people in another part of our world<br />
in order to help them overcome<br />
their difficulties. Personally, my<br />
experiences on the pilgrimage<br />
committee over the past three<br />
years have allowed me to expand<br />
my sensitivity to the struggles of<br />
the Rwandan people. In turn, I<br />
can now educate others to carry<br />
on this movement in the context<br />
of our Catholic Faith. As a result<br />
of my involvement, I have grown<br />
intellectually, emotionally and most<br />
importantly, spiritually.”<br />
austin ferguson,<br />
Grade 12, Saint Michael<br />
Catholic High School<br />
...<br />
To me, Pilgrimage isn’t just an<br />
opportunity for community service<br />
hours or a chance for free pizza. It’s<br />
about having the opportunity to help<br />
my school’s sister school in Haiti.<br />
A chance to give back to those less<br />
fortunate, to help make a difference.<br />
Sure it’s on an early Sunday morning<br />
and there’s a 10-kilometre walk, but<br />
it’s worth it because the walk we do<br />
isn’t as bad as the walk for the kids<br />
in Haiti attending school. I’ve walked<br />
Pilgrimage since my Grade 9 year<br />
and I’m always excited for the next<br />
one. I can’t believe this year will be<br />
my last Pilgrimage in high school. It’s<br />
only one early Sunday morning that<br />
can make a difference for a number<br />
of children.”<br />
janella tutanes, Grade 12,<br />
Saint Paul Catholic High School<br />
...<br />
“For me, Pilgrimage is a journey<br />
to help the kids in Haiti with their<br />
education and a better life. It is an<br />
opportunity to make a change in<br />
the world, but most importantly<br />
an opportunity to put my faith into<br />
action.”<br />
angelo calanog,<br />
Grade 10, Saint Paul<br />
Catholic High School ■<br />
11
funds<br />
raised<br />
pilgrimage<br />
<strong>2014</strong><br />
blessed trinity<br />
Catholic High School<br />
Amount raised: $18,000<br />
Number of Participants: 500<br />
denis morris<br />
catholic high school<br />
Amount raised: $13,000<br />
Number of participants: 480+<br />
holy cross catholic<br />
secondary school<br />
Amount raised: $15,000<br />
Number of participants: 350<br />
lakeshore catholic<br />
high school<br />
Amount raised: $13,000<br />
Number of participants: 400+<br />
notre dame<br />
college school<br />
Amount raised: $35,000<br />
Number of participants: 650<br />
saint francis<br />
catholic secondary<br />
Amount raised: $40,000<br />
Number of participants: 480+<br />
saint michael<br />
catholic high school<br />
Amount raised: $16,500<br />
Number of participants: 350+<br />
saint paul catholic<br />
high school<br />
Amount raised: $18,600<br />
Number of participants: 500+
One on One with<br />
Matt Vinc<br />
Teacher, Coach,<br />
Professional Athlete<br />
Matt Vinc, a Niagara<br />
Catholic alumnus<br />
and current teacher,<br />
stands with the<br />
World Championshipwinning<br />
Team Canada<br />
Lacrosse team. Vinc<br />
was one of four<br />
captains of the team.<br />
Photo supplied by the<br />
Canadian Lacrosse<br />
Association<br />
14
Meet Matt Vinc.<br />
He’s a Niagara<br />
Catholic Alumni<br />
Physical Education<br />
and Food and<br />
Nutrition teacher<br />
at Denis Morris<br />
Catholic High<br />
School, member<br />
of Canada’s Men’s<br />
National Field<br />
Lacrosse Team<br />
and Rochester<br />
Knighthawks<br />
Lacrosse Team<br />
in the National<br />
Lacrosse League<br />
(NLL).<br />
Matt shares with<br />
us why he loves<br />
Canada’s National<br />
Summer Sport<br />
(declared so by<br />
Parliament with<br />
the passage of the<br />
National Sports<br />
of Canada Act in<br />
1994) and what<br />
it brings to his<br />
experience in the<br />
classroom.<br />
What made you get into<br />
it?<br />
I am the youngest of three<br />
boys. My brothers’ friends<br />
were playing in the Canadian<br />
championship and I went to<br />
watch and got hooked.<br />
What teams have you<br />
played for?<br />
I grew up playing for the St.<br />
Catharines Athletics. Then I<br />
got a lacrosse scholarship at<br />
Canisius College in Buffalo<br />
and from there, I was picked<br />
up by the San Jose Stealth<br />
in the first round of the<br />
NLL draft. I have played for<br />
the New York Titans and<br />
Rochester Knighthawks in the<br />
National Lacrosse League.<br />
I have also played for team<br />
Canada’s field lacrosse team<br />
in 2006, 2010, and <strong>2014</strong>. I also<br />
play lacrosse in the summer<br />
league in Ontario for the<br />
Peterborough Lakers.<br />
Tell us a bit about some<br />
of the high points of your<br />
career.<br />
There are a few, but<br />
winning the Minto Cup<br />
for the Canadian Junior<br />
Championships twice, in 2001<br />
and 2003, is definitely up<br />
there. I was also a member<br />
of Team Canada in 2006<br />
and <strong>2014</strong> – years we won<br />
the World Field Lacrosse<br />
Championships. I was also a<br />
member of the silver medalwinning<br />
team in 2010. I also<br />
played on the team that won<br />
the World Indoor Lacrosse<br />
Championship in Prague,<br />
Czech Republic, in 2011.<br />
It’s also exciting to have been<br />
a part of the Knighthaws<br />
for the past few seasons,<br />
as we have won the NLL<br />
Championships in 2012, 2013<br />
and <strong>2014</strong>.<br />
What are some of the<br />
lessons you have learned<br />
from playing lacrosse?<br />
Playing lacrosse has taught<br />
valuable life lessons, such<br />
as the importance of time<br />
management, hard work<br />
and dedication, and the<br />
importance of being part of a<br />
team.<br />
When I was in high school<br />
at Holy Cross I played Junior<br />
B hockey, ran cross country,<br />
played senior basketball,<br />
played travel field lacrosse,<br />
and Junior A lacrosse.<br />
During this time several of<br />
the teams overlapped and I<br />
had a busy schedule. It was<br />
during this time that my mom<br />
said I would only be able to<br />
continue to do this if I stayed<br />
on the Honour Roll. She<br />
taught me that if I wanted to<br />
be a student athlete, I had to<br />
be a student first.<br />
How has it enriched your<br />
life? Have any of those<br />
lessons spilled over into<br />
your teaching career?<br />
Playing lacrosse has taught<br />
me to work hard in all aspects<br />
of life. I feel that growing<br />
up in sport prepares you to<br />
succeed in the workplace<br />
as all the qualities of a good<br />
teammate go hand in hand<br />
with that of being a good<br />
colleague. I always wanted to<br />
be successful in the classroom<br />
and on the playing field. Now<br />
as a teacher, my students<br />
are my number one priority.<br />
It may lead to marking<br />
assignment in airports, or<br />
on the road but it is just like<br />
when I was younger, and did<br />
homework on the road. As<br />
a teacher and coach, I feel it<br />
is my responsibility to pass<br />
on that message about the<br />
importance of having a strong<br />
work ethic to my student and<br />
athletes.<br />
How many more seasons<br />
do you expect to play? Do<br />
you foresee coaching as<br />
part of your future?<br />
I think every athlete will<br />
continue to play as long as<br />
they can positively contribute<br />
to their team. It may be 2,<br />
3 or 5 years but I definitely<br />
think sports will continue<br />
to be a big part of my life<br />
after I have finished playing.<br />
Because of sports, I have<br />
travelled all over the world,<br />
made many friends and have<br />
lasting memories. It has<br />
introduced me to my fiancé<br />
and has opened my eyes to my<br />
vocation of a job in education.<br />
When I was in university I got<br />
into coaching. I instantly saw<br />
how much I enjoyed working<br />
with the kids and seeing them<br />
improve throughout the year.<br />
Then I made connections<br />
with some of my favourite<br />
teachers I had at Holy Cross<br />
and I wanted to become the<br />
positive role models that I had<br />
growing up. ■<br />
15
F.U.E.L.-ing<br />
Success<br />
It’s a tricky business,<br />
being a teenage girl.<br />
There’s peer pressure to<br />
look the right way, have<br />
the right friends and<br />
be involved in the right<br />
activities.<br />
Saint Michael Catholic<br />
High School acquired<br />
new spin bikes<br />
through a grant<br />
obtained by the<br />
Females Using Energy<br />
for Life (F.U.E.L.)<br />
Club.<br />
There’s school pressure;<br />
the expectation that<br />
you will be the perfect<br />
student or, if you can’t<br />
be the perfect student, at<br />
least not cause trouble<br />
for your teachers and<br />
administration.<br />
And there’s pressure from<br />
families, who expect their<br />
daughters to have good<br />
manners, good marks<br />
and a good attitude, while<br />
trying to balance it all.<br />
Some days, it’s more than<br />
a girl can bear.<br />
That’s why the F.U.E.L. (Females Using<br />
Energy for Life) program, which began<br />
at Holy Cross Catholic Secondary School<br />
in St. Catharines under the leadership<br />
of Regional Public Health Nurse Kendra<br />
Harle, is so successful. It is now available<br />
in four Niagara Catholic secondary<br />
schools.<br />
Harle’s experience working with teenage<br />
girls made her certain of one thing:<br />
When girls had an outlet for stress and<br />
pressure, in a safe environment where<br />
physical activity was encouraged, they<br />
made much better choices.<br />
“The idea was to empower girls to<br />
participate in physical activity, and to<br />
give them an environment that’s noncompetitive<br />
and all-inclusive,” Harle<br />
said in mid-October, at a F.U.E.L. event<br />
at Saint Michael Catholic High School<br />
in Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s, where the program is<br />
also active. “The reason I wanted to<br />
16<br />
develop this program is because it’s allencompassing.”<br />
The F.U.E.L. program is simple: Once a<br />
week, female students in Grades 9-12<br />
join together to participate in a fitness<br />
activity. One week it could be yoga or<br />
pilates. Another week it could be Zumba<br />
or boxercise.<br />
On this day, Harle had just joined about<br />
a dozen female students and a few staff<br />
in a spin class, led by Saint Michael<br />
teacher Jennifer Guglielmi. Guglielmi<br />
teaches spin classes at the Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s<br />
YMCA and is the leader of the F.U.E.L.<br />
program at Saint Michael. She recently<br />
helped the school secure a $20,000<br />
grant from the Ministry of Education to<br />
expand the F.U.E.L. program. Part of<br />
that money was used to purchase 16<br />
new spin bikes.<br />
The class was followed by a blessing<br />
for the new bikes and the special room,<br />
which was a part of Saint Michael’s recently<br />
completed $6.1-million expansion.<br />
Harle was joined by Sara Argiropoulos,<br />
the current school nurse at Saint Michael,<br />
who said she’s astounded by the<br />
change she’s seen in students since the<br />
program came to Saint Michael in 2009.<br />
“You know what? In all honesty, I’ve<br />
seen their confidence grow from doing<br />
things they wouldn’t normally try,” she<br />
said.<br />
That’s because the Females Using Energy<br />
for Life program is about more than<br />
just physical fitness. It’s about mental<br />
health, too.<br />
The young women form bonds with the<br />
female leaders of F.U.E.L., whether it’s
The spin classes are<br />
one of many girlsonly<br />
fitness activities<br />
organized by the<br />
club. It is open to all<br />
girls at the school,<br />
regardless of their<br />
fitness level, and<br />
allows members<br />
to work out in a<br />
non-judgmental<br />
environment.<br />
the teacher at their school, or a community<br />
volunteer (there are volunteers<br />
from the local YMCA or other fitness<br />
clubs, Regional Public Health and other<br />
organizations – about 30 in all, across<br />
Niagara – each of whom brings an area<br />
of expertise to the program), and they<br />
begin to see these women as role models<br />
and mentors. They also form strong<br />
bonds with each other, often meeting<br />
girls they would not otherwise meet<br />
without the club.<br />
“Schools talk a lot about literacy,<br />
and I like to call this ‘physical<br />
literacy,” Harle says. “It’s very<br />
important, and they take these<br />
skills with them when they<br />
graduate.”<br />
Argiropoulos agrees.<br />
“This teaches them coping skills,” she<br />
says, noting she’s heard from girls who<br />
have gone through the program and<br />
then left for post-secondary education<br />
that they have transferred the lessons<br />
they learned in F.U.E.L. into various<br />
parts of their lives.<br />
To bring that point home, some of that<br />
$20,000 Ministry of Education grant<br />
was used in early September to invite<br />
Dr. Karyn Gordon, an internationally<br />
known motivational speaker, relationship<br />
expert and life coach, to speak at<br />
the school. More than 500 adolescent<br />
girls from Saint Michael, and its family<br />
of schools, attended the presentation,<br />
which was aimed at helping young girls<br />
make healthy choices when it comes to<br />
lifestyle and relationships. The presentation<br />
also focused on friendships, the<br />
safe use of social media, self-esteem<br />
and respecting their bodies.<br />
“It’s a program that really started from<br />
nothing – it was just several girls doing<br />
some exercises,” said Guglielmi. “And<br />
then girls caught on to the fact that it’s<br />
a safe place where they can go and they<br />
can share their stories and they can find<br />
support networks with teachers and administrators.<br />
It’s funny, because now<br />
you go into the local gyms and you see<br />
them, you see them exercising; you see<br />
them with positive self-esteem and it’s<br />
rewarding for us to see that.”<br />
Taya LaFontaine, a Grade 9 student<br />
at Saint Michael Catholic High School,<br />
found out about the F.U.E.L. program<br />
during a visit while still in elementary<br />
school, and couldn’t wait to join.<br />
She and friend Mariah Colosimo joined<br />
F.U.E.L. when they started at Saint Michael<br />
in September because they wanted<br />
to stay fit but didn’t want to feel the<br />
pressure of working out with boys.<br />
17
“It was appealing to me, because it<br />
meant we could work out together, and<br />
there was no competition,” says LaFontaine.<br />
“It’s very encouraging.”<br />
“It’s a closed environment, so everyone<br />
can work out at their own personal level,”<br />
says Colosimo. “For me, it’s confidence-boosting.”<br />
Despite being the youngest members of<br />
the group, the girls say they have never<br />
been made to feel less important than<br />
the seniors. Quite the opposite, in fact,<br />
says LaFontaine.<br />
“A lot of them have been<br />
through F.U.E.L. (since<br />
starting high school),” she<br />
says. “They are really inclusive.” She<br />
notes that the older students act as<br />
mentors for the younger ones, providing<br />
encouragement along the way.<br />
“They really (emphasize) that heavily,”<br />
she says. “When we meet, they have<br />
you say something good about yourself.”<br />
Cutting the ribbon on the new fitness room at Saint Michael Catholic High School, where the<br />
new bikes are housed.<br />
She and Colosimo look forward to continuing<br />
with F.U.E.L. throughout high<br />
school, confident they will become leaders<br />
one day.<br />
“It really is a community,” says<br />
Colosimo. ■<br />
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One on One with<br />
Makiah<br />
Hunt<br />
On Track<br />
for Success<br />
Makiah Hunt<br />
is a Grade 11<br />
student at Saint<br />
Michael Catholic<br />
High School in<br />
Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s. She’s<br />
a powerful athlete,<br />
excelling in both<br />
gymnastics, and<br />
in track and field,<br />
and aspires to<br />
study Kinesiology<br />
at the University of<br />
Southern California<br />
on a scholarship.<br />
She comes from a family of<br />
athletes (her brother, J.T.<br />
Hunt, is an accomplished<br />
high jumper currently<br />
studying Music at the<br />
University of Guelph, where<br />
he is a member of the Track<br />
and Field Team.)<br />
Makiah is making waves<br />
on her own these days,<br />
tearing up the track in<br />
her sophomore effort as a<br />
Mustang.<br />
Meet Makiah, and learn a<br />
little about what motivates<br />
her at school and on the<br />
track.<br />
Before you got into track<br />
and field, you were a<br />
competitive gymnast. Tell<br />
us a little bit about that<br />
experience.<br />
I followed in my older<br />
sister’s footsteps and began<br />
gymnastics about a year<br />
after she started. I was four<br />
years old at the time. I started<br />
competing the following<br />
year. I trained at Gymnastics<br />
Energy, in St. Catharines and<br />
got to level eight. My favourite<br />
apparatus has always been<br />
bars, even though I was often<br />
challenged because of my<br />
height (she’s a little over fivefeet,<br />
10-inches tall).<br />
You had to make a<br />
difficult choice between<br />
track and field and<br />
gymnastics. Why did you<br />
choose track and field?<br />
Choosing which sport to<br />
pursue was one of the hardest<br />
decisions I have been faced<br />
with so far in my life. In the<br />
end, I chose the sport that<br />
would ultimately give me<br />
the most opportunity. The<br />
track and field season (in<br />
Spring 2015) will be my third<br />
year competing for Saint<br />
Michael. I will also compete<br />
throughout the summer with<br />
my competitive club, Bolton<br />
Pole Vault.<br />
I stopped gymnastics just<br />
this past spring, after my<br />
provincial championships.<br />
I was heading into my track<br />
and field season when I made<br />
the decision to focus more on<br />
pole vaulting. I do still train<br />
once a week in gymnastics,<br />
because it is beneficial to my<br />
pole vaulting. A lot of skills in<br />
gymnastics translate over in<br />
my vaulting; there are just not<br />
enough days in the week – or<br />
enough stamina in a body – to<br />
withstand doing both sports<br />
competitively.<br />
I miss gymnastics and being in<br />
the gym with my teammates<br />
and coaches. My club was and<br />
will always be a family to me.<br />
Spending that many hours in<br />
the gym with my coach, she is<br />
like a second mom to me and<br />
my teammates are like sisters.<br />
Were you always<br />
interested in track and<br />
field when you were in<br />
elementary school?<br />
I excelled at track and field in<br />
elementary school (Makiah<br />
attended Our Lady of Mount<br />
Carmel Catholic Elementary<br />
School in Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s), so I<br />
continued with it as I went on<br />
to high school. Before I started<br />
competing myself, I went to all<br />
of my brother’s meets and was<br />
always interested in the sport.<br />
Personally, I enjoy individual<br />
sports because the effort I<br />
put in will be directly related<br />
to my results on the track. It<br />
interests me how track and<br />
field athletes perform when<br />
there’s stiff competition and<br />
that one race, jump or throw<br />
means first or second place<br />
for them. Getting personal<br />
bests keep me motivated and<br />
focused on my goals. Any<br />
track and field athlete will<br />
tell you that there is no better<br />
feeling than smashing a PB<br />
(personal best).<br />
Do you have a specific<br />
sport you enjoy most?<br />
In Grade 9 I started off<br />
competing in High Jump and<br />
Pole Vault, but going into<br />
grade 10, I decided to only<br />
continue with Pole Vault<br />
and try out Hurdles. Pole<br />
Vault is my favourite and<br />
most competitive event,<br />
although for my Grade<br />
11 school season I will<br />
continue to compete in<br />
Hurdles.<br />
Tell us a bit about<br />
your academic plans.<br />
What do you enjoy<br />
studying, and where<br />
would you like to go?<br />
I am most interested in math<br />
and the sciences at school.<br />
As far as a future career I’m<br />
not sure yet, but I am looking<br />
to go into Kinesiology at<br />
university. My dream school<br />
is the University of Southern<br />
California. I would love to<br />
attend and compete in the<br />
Track and Field program<br />
there! ■
The Desire<br />
to make a<br />
Difference<br />
Consider this: You are in<br />
mid-career. Your job keeps<br />
you away from home more<br />
than you’d like, but it’s<br />
in line with what you’ve<br />
always wanted to do, and<br />
has good benefits and great<br />
opportunities for growth.<br />
On the personal side, you have a couple<br />
of small kids who keep you busy, and<br />
health challenges that have thrown you<br />
a curveball or two along the way.<br />
Then, by chance, you meet someone<br />
who offers you the opportunity of a<br />
lifetime, a chance to travel overseas.<br />
But it’s no pleasure trip to the hotspots<br />
in Europe. Instead, it’s an invitation<br />
to check out a hotspot of a different<br />
type, the chance to travel to a beautiful<br />
exotic, mountainous land where armies<br />
have fought for millennia and terrorists<br />
threaten to infiltrate its security today.<br />
Your safety can’t be guarantee and<br />
you have no idea what changes and<br />
challenges await you.<br />
What would you do?<br />
For Amy Ball, the answer was a nobrainer.<br />
In January 2009, she boarded<br />
her first flight to Kurdistan.<br />
Ball was working as a Communications<br />
Officer with the Ontario government<br />
when she had a chance meeting with a<br />
Kurdish diplomat. As they chatted, the<br />
diplomat told Ball she should travel to<br />
Kurdistan to see his country first-hand.<br />
What she didn’t realize when she<br />
accepted the invitation is that she was<br />
on a date with destiny.<br />
“My family raised me in such a<br />
way that they never let me think<br />
for a minute that I couldn’t do<br />
something,” says Ball.<br />
“I was also given the chance to voice<br />
my opinion. Some parents believed that<br />
children should be seen and not heard,<br />
and should stay out of the room when<br />
grown-ups were talking, but it never<br />
occurred to me that I couldn’t enter that<br />
room. I had a chance to say no to this<br />
opportunity. I had two small children,<br />
20<br />
and I could have said no. But it’s about<br />
identifying a chance to help people and<br />
following through.”<br />
Ball has had a desire to help people since<br />
she was a student at Notre Dame College<br />
School in Welland. Under the guidance<br />
of Father Jim Mulligan, Ball learned<br />
quickly the power of compassion.<br />
“He taught us that we are absolutely<br />
capable of changing the world,” Ball told<br />
an audience during Niagara Catholic’s<br />
inaugural Distinguished Alumni Awards<br />
in 2013. During her acceptance speech,<br />
she spoke about the need to do more<br />
for others and what drives her to spend<br />
long stretches away from home to help<br />
others thousands of miles away. “We<br />
feel empowered, as representatives not<br />
just of the Catholic faith, but really our<br />
own individuality, to take accountability<br />
and step up when we see a need. I was<br />
grateful that I saw that need, my family<br />
supported me.”<br />
Kurdistan is 9,500 kilometres from<br />
Niagara. But it isn’t just the physical<br />
distance that divides us. The difference<br />
when it comes to way of life and<br />
standard of living is even greater.<br />
The reality of what she was about to do<br />
hit home when Ball was about to begin<br />
the final leg of her journey to Kurdistan<br />
on that first trip.<br />
“I very clearly remember my first flight,<br />
and the feeling of seeing the landscape<br />
rising up to meet me as we landed,” she<br />
says. “It is difficult to explain. I was<br />
fine on my first solo trip from Toronto<br />
to Vienna. As I entered the boarding<br />
hall in Vienna as the only Western<br />
woman heading to Kurdistan, I realized<br />
the magnitude of what this experience<br />
would be for me.”<br />
Ball’s story begins in the city of Erbil,<br />
believed to be among the oldest<br />
continually inhabited cities in the world.<br />
Erbil is a mix of the ancient and modern<br />
worlds, a place where tribal and urban<br />
cultures come together.<br />
Ball noticed a distinctive scent when she<br />
stepped off the plane.<br />
“The smell is difficult to describe,” she<br />
says. “It is not unpleasant, but it is<br />
unique. Just like everyone’s home has<br />
a scent, Iraq has its own scent, a mix<br />
of fuel oil (kerosene is used for cooking<br />
and heating), dust and the unique smell<br />
of their laundry soap combined. My<br />
children smell the laundry soap on me<br />
now when I come home and say I smell<br />
like Iraq.”<br />
Her first hours in the country were<br />
overwhelming.<br />
“I was in a trance until I got to the hotel.<br />
I was left alone to rest and freshen up<br />
before dinner. I began to panic – no<br />
phone, Internet was spotty – and then<br />
I walked out onto the balcony that<br />
overlooked traditional homes. The call<br />
to prayer came over the loudspeaker at<br />
the local mosque. It was twilight. And<br />
for some reason, it calmed me. I felt<br />
instantly peaceful and knew in my heart<br />
that everything was going to be okay.”<br />
Ball says she was given the “dog and<br />
pony” tour of Kurdistan by her hosts,<br />
including a trip to the parliament.<br />
While there, she was invited by the<br />
Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)<br />
to participate as a neutral western<br />
observer for upcoming elections,<br />
another opportunity she couldn’t refuse.<br />
Reflecting on that first visit, Ball recalls<br />
being surprised to discover the tolerance<br />
within Kurdish society. Churches and<br />
mosques are built side-by-side, she<br />
says. Christmas parties are as common<br />
as Islamic celebrations.<br />
Ball was also encouraged by the value<br />
placed on women in Kurdish society.<br />
By law, women are required to comprise<br />
a minimum of 25 per cent of seats in<br />
the legislature, women are educated<br />
(50 per cent of students enrolled in<br />
university are women) and women are<br />
welcomed into the military.<br />
“There are misconceptions<br />
in the West (about life in<br />
Kurdistan) and a lack of<br />
understanding. This is<br />
an extremely forwardthinking<br />
government and<br />
it has been all along,” Ball<br />
says of the KRG. “There are<br />
laws protecting women<br />
from domestic violence,<br />
and women’s rights in<br />
general.”<br />
Still, the remnants of centuries – maybe<br />
even millennia – of instability in the<br />
region are unmistakable. Some parts of<br />
the trip, including seeing mass graves<br />
along the roadside near Iraq’s capital of<br />
Baghdad, were “traumatizing.”<br />
It was the Kurdish people’s ability<br />
to overcome adversity; to continue<br />
to rebuild after years of bombs and<br />
invasions, which touched Ball the most<br />
on that first visit. One man she met has<br />
had his home bombed 17 times since<br />
1940. He has rebuilt every single time.<br />
She also speaks fondly about one<br />
city in Kurdistan that had seen many
It is a challenging part of the world<br />
to work in right now. Ball is aware<br />
of the dangers and goes nowhere<br />
unaccompanied.<br />
Her security detail is led by a former<br />
member of the British Armed Forces,<br />
who guards her with his life.<br />
Amy Ball sits<br />
alongside a young<br />
girl during one of her<br />
many trips to Iraqi<br />
Kurdistan. The health<br />
of girls and women<br />
is a priority for Ball<br />
and her Friends of<br />
Kurdistan Foundation.<br />
“I am picked up at my hotel room door<br />
and returned there,” she says. “That is<br />
true for the gym, social outings, meals<br />
– anything. My bodyguards have a duty<br />
of care whenever I leave that room.<br />
We are a male/female team, so we<br />
look like a couple in the streets. So to<br />
some degree, yes, we walk freely. As a<br />
Western woman, the precautions and<br />
restrictions required for me are greater<br />
than what is required for local women.<br />
“I am largely protected from the danger<br />
of being kidnapped,” Ball continues.<br />
“However, you cannot assume safety.<br />
You need to plan for every possible<br />
eventuality when the threat is elevated<br />
as it is now.”<br />
of its citizens, mostly men, killed by<br />
insurgents.<br />
“The remarkable thing is that there isn’t<br />
an orphanage and there isn’t a women’s<br />
home in the city of Barzan, because the<br />
remaining citizens took in the women<br />
and the orphans as best they could,”<br />
Ball says.<br />
While we in the western world believe<br />
we can teach people in places like<br />
Kurdistan a lesson or two about how to<br />
live, she believes we can take a lesson<br />
or two from them.<br />
It is the sense of community of the<br />
Kurdish people that led Ball to create<br />
the Friends of Kurdistan Foundation,<br />
after her first visit to the country. The<br />
Foundation has funded a clinic in Erbil’s<br />
Havalan district to serve the poor.<br />
For a couple of years Ball tried to<br />
balance her job at Queen’s Park with<br />
her foundation work, travelling to<br />
Kurdistan every three months with her<br />
foundation, but eventually she had to<br />
make a choice. The government job had<br />
to go.<br />
“I stayed about two years trying to<br />
juggle both, then one had to give,” Ball<br />
says. “I was writing speeches about<br />
plastic surgery legislation then travelling<br />
to a place where people just wanted to<br />
be safe and secure. The dynamic was<br />
irreconcilable.”<br />
Amy Ball spends six months each year in<br />
Kurdistan – roughly every other month,<br />
for about a month at a time. She works<br />
as a business development consultant,<br />
like an economic development officer<br />
might do in the West. Ball brings her<br />
knowledge of Kurdistan – its geography,<br />
economy and political landscape<br />
– to the North American business<br />
community, and encourages them to set<br />
up subsidiaries in Kurdistan.<br />
Ball says. “In order to be<br />
successful in the Middle<br />
East, you need to maintain<br />
a presence. Transactions<br />
do not take place via<br />
electronic methods. Face<br />
to face is the only way to<br />
conduct business there,<br />
quite frankly, as it should<br />
be.”<br />
Ball believes foreign investment in<br />
Kurdistan is critical for its emerging<br />
economy. It creates jobs for Kurdish<br />
workers, and opportunities for Kurdish<br />
entrepreneurs to start businesses of<br />
their own.<br />
Currently, she is involved in building<br />
one of the first helicopter operations<br />
in Iraq, and also works in oil sales and<br />
equipment services.<br />
So why would a mother leave her<br />
children (now 11 and 15) and spend six<br />
months out of the year working in a part<br />
of the world where terrorists can easily<br />
take hold?<br />
The simple answer to the question is<br />
that if Ball wants to make a connection<br />
between the Kurdish government and<br />
North American businesses, she needs<br />
to be there.<br />
But such decisions are never simple.<br />
In 2013, Ball was feeling run down. It<br />
could have been the lingering effects<br />
of another illness, or the pace she was<br />
keeping with work, or the after-effects<br />
of the Christmas holidays. But it wasn’t.<br />
Early that year, she was diagnosed with<br />
relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis,<br />
“the good kind,” she quips.<br />
Another life-changing moment. Another<br />
decision. Should she continue her work,<br />
or hand it over to someone else? Despite<br />
the internal risks from her illness, and<br />
the external threats of violence, she<br />
opted to forge on.<br />
“I don’t have, and I might not have, the<br />
luxury to retire when I choose to, so I<br />
have to work now,” she says.<br />
But it doesn’t mean it’s easy for her<br />
to be away from home for prolonged<br />
stretches.<br />
During the interview for this article,<br />
from her compound in Erbil, Ball<br />
explained that she ensures she’s home<br />
for milestones in her children’s lives,<br />
including birthdays and holidays. She<br />
speaks to them when she can while<br />
21
Amy Ball, one of<br />
Niagara Catholic's<br />
inaugural<br />
Distinguished Alumni<br />
Award recipients,<br />
at a camp run by<br />
the United Nations<br />
Human Rights Council<br />
in Iraqi Kurdistan.<br />
Photos provided by<br />
Amy Ball<br />
she’s away, but the unrest in the Middle<br />
East means communication isn’t always<br />
as easy as she’d like it to be. There’s<br />
also the time zone issue: By the time<br />
the working day winds down in Erbil,<br />
Ball’s children have just started school.<br />
It’s nearly midnight in Iraq by the time<br />
they come home. In such a case, you<br />
would imagine Ball has her apartment<br />
peppered with photos of her children.<br />
But she doesn’t.<br />
“You can’t understand how hard it is<br />
to work away,” she says. “I have to<br />
compartmentalize. I can’t have pictures<br />
of them strewn about the room, because<br />
it’s extremely traumatic for me.”<br />
By the same token, Ball doesn’t talk<br />
about life in Iraq when she’s at home.<br />
“(My family) is not privy to the issues<br />
I’ve dealt in Iraq,” she says. It also takes<br />
her a little bit of time to re-adjust to<br />
her life in Canada. She has to get used<br />
to the role of mom again, and of doing<br />
everyday tasks like getting groceries or<br />
driving her car.<br />
Both at home and abroad, Ball focuses<br />
on ways to keep herself as strong as<br />
she can for as long as she can. There’s<br />
no time stamp on when the “relapsing”<br />
part of her illness will rear its head. It<br />
could be months or years before she is<br />
affected again.<br />
But she doesn’t dwell on that any more<br />
than she dwells on the dangers she<br />
faces doing her job overseas. It’s a part<br />
of her life as surely as her eye colour,<br />
and she goes on about her day without<br />
thinking about the “what-ifs.”<br />
“Your mental role, your physical role, is<br />
to keep your body as strong as possible<br />
for as long as possible, and that’s what<br />
I’m going to do.”<br />
One way Ball is facing the MS diagnosis<br />
is to fight it head-on, literally. Last year,<br />
she attended the Pearl Gloves boxing<br />
event in St. Catharines, which supports<br />
the local chapter of the MS Society. She<br />
knew at the time that she had MS, but<br />
only a select few people were aware of<br />
her diagnosis until she spoke openly<br />
about it as she promoted the event.<br />
This year, Ball went a step further. In<br />
addition to promoting the <strong>2014</strong> Pearl<br />
Gloves event in St. Catharines, she was<br />
also a participant.<br />
Ball believed that as an MS fighter it was<br />
important for her to be on that card.<br />
Ball trained for the event at the St.<br />
Catharines Boxing Club with the other<br />
participants. While overseas her<br />
security team put her through her paces,<br />
ensuring her health stayed strong and<br />
her fitness level didn’t suffer.<br />
She runs every morning, and works out<br />
with her trainers at the end of her (often<br />
14 to 16-hour) workday, to ensure she<br />
is ready when she steps into the ring.<br />
“I’m giving it all I’ve got,” Ball says.<br />
The same rings true for her work in Iraq.<br />
“While you have youth on<br />
your side, to some degree<br />
anyway,” she says, “you have to do<br />
what you want to do.” ■<br />
22
Being the<br />
Change<br />
Stephanie Kennedy was<br />
not supposed to attend<br />
We Day in Toronto this<br />
year.<br />
Those plans changed at<br />
the last minute, when<br />
the 13-year-old Grade 8<br />
student at Mother Teresa<br />
Catholic Elementary<br />
School in St. Catharines<br />
learned she would receive<br />
a Governor General’s<br />
Caring Canadian Award<br />
during the celebration.<br />
Mother Teresa<br />
Caatholic Elementary<br />
School student<br />
Stephanie Kennedy,<br />
left, stands alongside<br />
Free the Children and<br />
We Day founder Craig<br />
Kielburger during<br />
the We Day event in<br />
Toronto in October.<br />
Kielburger presented<br />
Stephanie with a<br />
Governor General<br />
Caring Canadian<br />
Award as part of the<br />
celebration.<br />
Photo provided by<br />
Free the Children.<br />
Copyright <strong>2014</strong>,<br />
Lyn Photography<br />
The Award is presented throughout the<br />
year to individuals who volunteer their<br />
time to help others and build a more<br />
caring nation.<br />
Stephanie was nominated by Ann Marie<br />
Maloney, a teacher at the school. Maloney<br />
leads the school’s Me to We Club,<br />
which runs through Free the Children.<br />
The Canadian charitable organization<br />
was started by Craig Kielburger when<br />
he was 12 years old to promote the<br />
rights of children in developing nations<br />
around the world. Maloney was invited<br />
by Free the Children to nominate a<br />
student to receive a Governor General’s<br />
Caring Canadian Award, which would be<br />
presented during the We Day celebration<br />
in Toronto in early October.<br />
Maloney immediately thought of Stephanie.<br />
In nominating Stephanie, Maloney credited<br />
the teen with a long list of good<br />
deeds which caught the attention of the<br />
selection committee.<br />
“Stephanie is always willing to assist<br />
those who are marginalized in our community<br />
and overseas,” Maloney said.<br />
Stephanie has been actively involved in<br />
Mother Teresa’s annual We Scare Hunger<br />
Halloween food drive. Outside of<br />
that, Stephanie collected 113 pounds of<br />
non-perishable food while making her<br />
rounds on her paper route, which was<br />
then donated to the local food bank in<br />
St. Catharines.<br />
Stephanie has also been a leader in the<br />
school’s campaign to help build a school<br />
in Kenya through Free the Children’s<br />
Brick by Brick campaign, involved with<br />
fundraising and volunteering in support<br />
of Gillian’s Place Women’s Shelter in St.<br />
Catharines, and an active participant in<br />
the Terry Fox Run and Rankin Cancer<br />
Run in St. Catharines.<br />
Asked why she commits so much of her<br />
time to helping others, Stephanie said<br />
it’s just something she likes to do.<br />
“It makes me feel good to<br />
know that I have helped<br />
people in need,” she says.<br />
Stephanie said receiving the Award<br />
from Craig Kielburger, founder of Free<br />
the Children, Me to We and the annual<br />
We Day events, was a huge honour.<br />
“He’s a huge role model for me,” she<br />
said. “I think it’s great how he started<br />
helping others when he was just 12,<br />
and how much of a mark he’s made on<br />
the world.”<br />
This year, Stephanie is running for Student<br />
Prime Minister at Mother Teresa,<br />
eager to find ways to continue to keep<br />
the school involved in social justice activities<br />
at the local, national and global<br />
level.<br />
Looking ahead at Grade 9, Stephanie<br />
says she’s excited about continuing to<br />
be involved in social justice activities.<br />
“It’s definitely a goal for me<br />
to continue to help others<br />
and not just focus on myself,”<br />
she says. ■<br />
24
Local Woman Student of<br />
Global Health<br />
The introduction to<br />
anatomy books piled on<br />
Kaitlin Saxton’s desk in her<br />
childhood home have been<br />
there for as long as she<br />
can remember. They were<br />
given to her when she was<br />
seven years old, and first<br />
expressed an interest in<br />
science.<br />
Fast-forward 14 years, and Kaitlin’s interest<br />
in all things science has turned<br />
from a hobby into a career pathway for<br />
the 21-year-old graduate of Lakeshore<br />
Catholic High School in Port Colborne.<br />
She completed her Honours Bachelor<br />
of Science Degree from the University<br />
of Western Ontario with a double major<br />
in Medical Science and Biology, and recently<br />
accepted a research scholarship<br />
with Duke University in Durham, North<br />
Carolina, to complete her Masters of<br />
Science in Global Health.<br />
It’s an interesting time to be a student<br />
of global health crises, to be sure. The<br />
rapid spread of the Ebola virus in West<br />
Africa has dominated much of the news<br />
cycle; in particular, since the disease<br />
has made its way to North America in<br />
recent weeks.<br />
Days before leaving, Kaitlin talked<br />
about her excitement at the opportunity<br />
to learn about global health issues from<br />
leaders around the world.<br />
“The Ebola crisis – that’s pretty much<br />
exactly what I am going for,” says Kaitlin,<br />
who expects she will eventually<br />
spend time in Africa, but plans to stay<br />
away from the Ebola hotspots “for the<br />
time being.”<br />
Kaitlin, who was once Port Colborne’s<br />
Youth Citizen of the Year, is among the<br />
youngest students to be accepted into<br />
the innovative program at the Duke<br />
Global Health Institute, which opened in<br />
2008. The goal of the school is to “make<br />
significant contributions to the prevention<br />
and treatment of health problems<br />
around the world, and be the leading<br />
academic global health institute in the<br />
world.”<br />
Kaitlin Saxton looks through some of her favourite medical books. She is currently<br />
studying Global Health at Duke University in North Carolina.<br />
Kaitlin calls her new learning opportunity<br />
the “perfect fit” for her, as she<br />
has been interested in helping people<br />
considered underserviced or marginalized<br />
in the community since she began<br />
volunteering at Port Cares with her<br />
aunt in Grade 8. Kaitlin says her family<br />
has always been very service-oriented,<br />
whether it was through a community organization<br />
or their parish, and she was<br />
always encouraged to join them when<br />
they went to volunteer.<br />
“I really enjoy working with<br />
the underserviced population,”<br />
she says, noting her community<br />
involvement has led to a number of<br />
connections and relationships through<br />
the years. “I think sometimes that I really<br />
got more out of (volunteering) than<br />
the people I was helping, and I didn’t<br />
want to lose this service-learning connection,<br />
so this is really a perfect fit for<br />
me.”<br />
While spending hours volunteering with<br />
people in need in her community, Kaitlin<br />
also learned about people in need<br />
overseas, through her school’s annual<br />
pilgrimage, which raises funds for a variety<br />
of programs in Portsmouth, Dominica.<br />
She even travelled there for a<br />
short stay in high school, learning firsthand<br />
how money raised in Canada can<br />
help those living in developing nations.<br />
“It was a really incredible<br />
experience to go there,<br />
and see what the money<br />
we raised in the Pilgrimage<br />
could do,” she says.<br />
While Kaitlin always knew she would become<br />
a doctor, it was seeing the disparity<br />
between the way health problems are<br />
dealt with here and in the developing<br />
world that really caught her attention.<br />
Travelling to Dominica and to Peru solidified<br />
her knowledge that while there<br />
is a need for family doctors in Niagara<br />
(she doesn’t discount the possibility<br />
of becoming a General Practitioner one<br />
day) she wanted to do what she could<br />
to help promote healing and wellness<br />
in other parts of the world, particularly<br />
while she’s young and free to travel.<br />
“Developing nations often have inequalities<br />
in their health care,” says Kaitlin,<br />
25
citing economic, social, environmental<br />
and political factors all play a role in the<br />
way a patient receives care. “The focus<br />
of Duke’s Global Health program is<br />
to recognize the many different health<br />
problems around the world, and identify<br />
the different factors that are hindering<br />
the progress of health care.”<br />
If Kaitlin had any reservations about being<br />
the youngest student from a group<br />
of medical professionals around the<br />
world taking part in the program, they<br />
have disappeared.<br />
“The program is wonderful<br />
and my peers are very impressive<br />
and established<br />
students and professionals.<br />
I’m over half way through<br />
the semester and I’ve really<br />
enjoyed my courses. So<br />
far, my marks are actually<br />
the highest they have ever<br />
been, which was definitely a<br />
welcomed surprise.”<br />
Saxton is partnered with Dr. Truls Ostbye,<br />
as her thesis advisor. Dr. Ostbye is<br />
an MD, and holds (among other degrees)<br />
a Master’s Degree in Public Health and<br />
a Master’s in Business Administration.<br />
Originally from Norway, Dr. Ostbye has<br />
studied and taught epidemiology (defined<br />
by the World Health Organization<br />
as “the study of the distribution and determinants<br />
of health-related states or<br />
events, and the application of this study<br />
to control of diseases and other health<br />
problems”), genetics, human rights,<br />
health policy, maternal and reproductive<br />
health and mental health in Scotland<br />
and in Canada, including tenures<br />
at the University of Western Ontario<br />
in London, and Dalhousie University in<br />
Halifax.<br />
Under his guidance, Kaitlin has had her<br />
name attached to a research paper and<br />
is currently editing a second. She has<br />
learned about a broad range of topics<br />
associated with global health.<br />
“Our classes often have presenters who<br />
are specialists and at the top of the field<br />
in areas such as vaccinations, influenza,<br />
HIV/AIDS, global cancer and mental<br />
health,” she says. “A very comprehensive<br />
and wide scope is covered, which is<br />
great to find out what my interests are.”<br />
And what Kaitlin has discovered (no<br />
doubt to her family’s relief), is that<br />
while she is still interested in infectious<br />
diseases, there are other global health<br />
issues that capture her interest more.<br />
“I had come here with an interest in infectious<br />
disease, and although I still find<br />
them fascinating, I now think I would<br />
like to get into non-communicable diseases,<br />
such as cardiovascular disease,<br />
diabetes, cancer, and respiratory illness,”<br />
she says. ■<br />
About the program:<br />
http://globalhealth.duke.edu<br />
Kaitlin’s thesis advisor:<br />
http://globalhealth.duke.edu/people/faculty/ostbye-truls<br />
Duke University’s Global Health<br />
Institute:<br />
https://globalhealth.duke.edu/<br />
glance<br />
26
Chemosabe:<br />
Cancer<br />
Warrior<br />
By Alana Somerville<br />
My name is Alana Somerville,<br />
and I am a cancer survivor. My<br />
story begins on August 29th, 2010, at<br />
approximately three o’clock in the<br />
morning.<br />
My six-month-old son Rudy was wide awake and ready for a<br />
feeding. I was breastfeeding, and had actually started to<br />
wean him a few weeks earlier, because it was tough keeping<br />
up with his schedule and the demands of my three-year-old<br />
daughter. But on that particular night, when he cried for me<br />
to nurse him, something happened that changed my life.<br />
was half asleep, sitting in the rocking chair in his room,<br />
I when for whatever reason I decided to feel my breasts. My<br />
world immediately stopped. I felt a lump. It didn’t hurt, but<br />
it was definitely there. It was maybe the size of a marble and<br />
hard like a marble, and it kind of moved when I touched it.<br />
I wasn’t dreaming though. It was there and I was terrified.<br />
When was the last time I checked? I couldn’t remember. I<br />
immediately tried not to think of the worst-case scenario, but<br />
it was difficult to put my mind at ease.<br />
talked to some friends about it the next day, and they did<br />
I what all friends do – tried to reassure me that it couldn’t<br />
possibly be what I was thinking. Mastitis was the most<br />
obvious answer, since I was breastfeeding. After all, I was<br />
33, I had no family history of breast cancer or of any type of<br />
cancer for that matter. I decided to make an appointment<br />
the next day.<br />
Two years earlier, I decided to have a full physical done and<br />
had requested a mammogram as well. I was about to go<br />
back to work after having a year off following the birth of my<br />
daughter Charley. I just wanted to know that I had a clean<br />
bill of health. It took me awhile to convince my doctor that<br />
a 31-year-old with no risk factors for breast cancer should<br />
have one, but he eventually relented and I had the test done.<br />
At that time, I was given the all-clear.<br />
On Monday morning, I called my new doctor to find out<br />
about the lump I had discovered on the weekend. I was<br />
immediately given an appointment for 3 p.m. that day.<br />
My doctor was concerned enough by the lump to request<br />
another mammogram, and an ultrasound. On Friday,<br />
the doctor called me at home and said he was concerned<br />
about the results. He wanted me to have a biopsy “to rule<br />
out anything sinister.” I was in shock. How could this be<br />
happening to me?<br />
week later, I had a biopsy which confirmed my worst<br />
A fears. That was the day I had to hear the three most<br />
terrifying words from a doctor: “You have cancer.”<br />
Alana Somerville, a<br />
Grade 8 teacher at<br />
Our Lady of Victory<br />
Catholic Elementary<br />
School in Fort Erie<br />
and a cancer survivor,<br />
with her daughter,<br />
Charley.<br />
27
Alana Somerville poses<br />
with British actress<br />
and model Elizabeth<br />
Hurley at a breast<br />
health event. After<br />
their meeting, Hurley<br />
tweeted about reading<br />
Somerville's book,<br />
Chemosabe: Cancer<br />
Warrior, describing<br />
it as "excellent" and<br />
"harrowing."<br />
remember the elevator ride up to his<br />
I office that day to find out the results.<br />
I think I just knew. And I knew that<br />
the elevator ride down could quite<br />
possibly be the beginning of the second<br />
half of my life; my life with cancer.<br />
In the same sentence when he told<br />
me I had cancer, he also told me that<br />
this was “one of those things where<br />
we needed to hurry up and wait.”<br />
Getting rid of the cancer was a priority,<br />
but there would be a five-week wait.<br />
was in a state of shock. So many things<br />
I were going through my mind, but the<br />
thought that came back to me again<br />
and again was that I had just received<br />
a death sentence. I was going to die. I<br />
had two babies. And I was going to die.<br />
I didn’t know how to deal with it. I went<br />
home, still in shock, and I cried. I cried<br />
all night long. I finally fell asleep and<br />
then woke up crying in the middle of the<br />
night. I just didn’t know how to handle it.<br />
Breast cancer had not touched<br />
my circle of friends. Statistics<br />
say one woman in seven will be<br />
diagnosed with breast cancer. I guess<br />
I am the one in my seven who was<br />
selected to be part of this crazy club.<br />
My first instinct was to hide the news<br />
– keep it to myself. But I realized<br />
that would be impossible. So I sent my<br />
family and friends an email, explaining<br />
to them that I was about to embark on a<br />
journey and that no matter how alone I<br />
felt, I didn’t want to go through it alone.<br />
28<br />
soon found out I was not alone, and<br />
I with this came strength. It took me a<br />
few days to change my way of thinking,<br />
but I ultimately realized that I had to<br />
think positively, I had to believe that I<br />
was going to be fine, and I had to connect<br />
with people who felt the same way.<br />
started talking to other women who<br />
I had just gone through the experience<br />
of having breast cancer. I started<br />
fighting back, and the more that I looked<br />
at my children the more I realized that I<br />
needed to do everything in my power to<br />
survive. Essentially, I went into warrior<br />
mode. My mother was right by my side.<br />
She essentially quit her job, moved<br />
in with us and took care of whatever<br />
needed to be done for the next four<br />
months! If I ever doubted where I got<br />
my strength, that was erased when I saw<br />
how strong my mother was for all of us.<br />
The first step was to get my surgery<br />
moved up. How could I live with this<br />
thing inside of me? I called everyone I<br />
knew. I called the family doctor that<br />
I had when I was 13, I called friends<br />
who had friends who were nurses,<br />
and I ended up calling a woman who<br />
I had met while taking my daughter<br />
to gymnastics. She was a doctor, we<br />
had gotten together for a play date<br />
once with the kids, and I thought that<br />
maybe she could help. The day that<br />
I called her, she sent in a referral to<br />
Juravinski Cancer Centre, and I had<br />
an appointment that very same day.<br />
Whether or not I was right or<br />
wrong in what I did, at that<br />
time in my life it didn’t matter. All I<br />
knew was I had something growing<br />
inside me, and it would keep<br />
growing, until someone took it out.<br />
From the moment that I walked into<br />
the hospital, I knew that I was where<br />
I needed to be. In that moment,<br />
I think I knew that I would be OK.<br />
My surgery took place the following<br />
week. That’s when I found out<br />
the really scary news. That “sinister”<br />
lump was nearly three centimetres<br />
in size, and was a Grade 3, Stage<br />
2B, Triple Negative cancer. It was<br />
aggressive, and it had spread into my<br />
lymph nodes. A decision was made:<br />
I would undergo chemotherapy,<br />
then a double mastectomy.<br />
The ritual of Tuesday morning<br />
chemotherapy treatments began.<br />
A 16-week cycle of chemo, getting<br />
sick, feeling better, cleaning my<br />
house and shopping in a frenzy,<br />
spending time with my kids, then<br />
starting the whole cycle again.<br />
Through this, I learned I have<br />
some amazing friends. A group<br />
of seven friends started a dinner club<br />
for me. They brought dinner to my<br />
house every other day on a rotating<br />
basis for the entire duration of my<br />
chemo and surgeries. I wasn’t always<br />
hungry, nor did I feel like cooking,<br />
but everyone else still needed to eat.<br />
Two of my other close friends decided<br />
to throw a hair cutting party for me
Alana Somerville with<br />
her children, daughter<br />
Charley and son<br />
Rudy.<br />
just before my second round of chemo<br />
was about to begin. Doctors have it<br />
down to a science. Hair loss happens<br />
between 17 and 21 days after the first<br />
chemotherapy treatment, which would<br />
mean that about a week after my<br />
second chemo appointment, it would<br />
all be gone. So, a few days before my<br />
second infusion about 150 of my closest<br />
friends and family gathered around to<br />
support my new haircut. My friends sold<br />
tickets, had raffle prizes donated, and<br />
most of the proceeds went to Wellspring<br />
Niagara, to support cancer patients<br />
and their families in our community.<br />
Lots of people stepped up to the plate<br />
to get their hair shaved, ultimately<br />
to show their support to me. In only<br />
a few short days, the rest of what<br />
was left of my hair would fall out.<br />
Up until my hair loss, I have to say<br />
that I was pretty strong. I remained<br />
positive, smiling, and fairly upbeat.<br />
When you wake up one morning and<br />
your hair is all over your pillow, things<br />
change. That’s when you realize that<br />
you are very, very sick. You can deny<br />
it as much as you want, but sitting<br />
there on your pillow is a very harsh<br />
reminder of what’s going on. I vividly<br />
remember sobbing in the shower that<br />
morning, as the drain clogged and I<br />
looked down to see my hair on the<br />
shower floor. Things suddenly became<br />
very real. I had to bring the garbage<br />
pail into the shower to pick up my hair<br />
from the floor. That was probably the<br />
most horrible moment of the journey.<br />
Apart from the diagnosis, I think I was<br />
in denial. I knew I had cancer, but<br />
up until this point I didn’t look like it.<br />
Unfortunately, my hair didn’t even<br />
all fall out at once. It took three<br />
excruciating days, until finally I called<br />
my friend to bring over her clippers and<br />
buzz the rest of it. In hindsight, it was<br />
probably an extremely difficult thing<br />
for her to do, but she kept it together<br />
really well. It only took about five<br />
minutes for her to shave the rest of it<br />
off, but this too was a turning point. I<br />
felt extremely liberated. I felt that at<br />
this point I had taken charge of this<br />
cancer. Rather than let it torture me<br />
with hair loss, I would give it nothing<br />
to take. So, in essence, at this point,<br />
I felt like I had another new beginning.<br />
told my kids that mommy was really,<br />
I really sick, but that I had to take some<br />
really awesome medicine that was<br />
going to make me all better. However,<br />
the medicine was going to make my<br />
hair fall out…but this was a good thing.<br />
This way we knew it was working. My<br />
kids adapted very quickly. Charley<br />
told me that I looked like Caillou (a<br />
character in children’s books and on<br />
TV), and that was it. She really didn’t<br />
care. She would kiss my bald head,<br />
and tell me that I looked beautiful.<br />
The 16-week chemotherapy treatment<br />
gave me time to come to terms with<br />
the next stage: Surgery to remove my<br />
breasts.<br />
felt like this part of my body which<br />
I had nurtured my children in their<br />
early days had betrayed me. I didn’t<br />
want to look at them again. I didn’t<br />
want them on me anymore. I also<br />
didn’t want it to loom over my head that<br />
I might have a recurrence on the other<br />
side. A double mastectomy meant no<br />
more mammograms and less radiation.<br />
It is also much easier to reconstruct two<br />
breasts to look the same, rather than<br />
create one new one to look like the other.<br />
The final surgery for me happened in<br />
July, and I went back to work teaching<br />
full time in September. The thought of<br />
a recurrence still loomed over me every<br />
day though. It still does. It has gotten<br />
better, but I still think about it all the<br />
time. So, because I didn’t know what<br />
life had in store for me, I decided to go<br />
back to all of those emails that I had<br />
sent out to people and expand on them<br />
a little bit, with the intention of saving<br />
them for my children to read one day.<br />
People had said to me “you should<br />
write a book,” and I would say “like<br />
I have time.” But the more I started<br />
writing, I found there was just so much<br />
I wanted to say. Soon I had 50, pages,<br />
then 100, and 150 and that’s when I<br />
thought to myself, “maybe I’ve written<br />
a book.” I thought “if I can share what<br />
I’ve learned with someone else who is<br />
going through this, and if it can help<br />
them in any way, then it’s all worth it.”<br />
When I was first diagnosed, I looked for<br />
a book that was written by someone<br />
who had gone through this same<br />
thing. All I knew was what I was told<br />
29
.........................<br />
Get to<br />
know your<br />
SCHOOL<br />
Alana Somerville<br />
speaking about her<br />
experiences with<br />
breast cancer.<br />
by the doctors, and although they gave great information,<br />
they ultimately had not done the same tour of duty.<br />
It’s nearly impossible for a first-time author to have a book<br />
published without an agent through a publishing company.<br />
So I did it on my own. Writing Chemosabe: Cancer Warrior,<br />
gave me the opportunity to connect with other women who<br />
are travelling down the same road I travelled not so long ago.<br />
am an activist about the importance of self-examination.<br />
I I am an activist about advocating for yourself with<br />
doctors, whether it’s your family physician, oncologist<br />
or other specialist, or a surgeon. I am an activist about<br />
staying positive and doing what you have to do to<br />
reclaim your life. I speak at seminars and rallies. And I<br />
recently just had actress Elizabeth Hurley tweet to me<br />
that she read my book while on a plane. How cool is that?<br />
No matter how optimistic I try to be that cancer is no<br />
longer a part of my life, there is still a lingering fear.<br />
Although I have tested negative for the BRCA 1 and 2 gene,<br />
I am sure that my daughter is at higher risk than her friends<br />
whose mothers are without breast cancer will be. That<br />
terrifies me. Recently, my sister had to go for a follow-up<br />
mammogram and ultrasound because her last mammogram<br />
showed some abnormalities. It turned out to be nothing,<br />
but they want to see her in six months to be sure. That<br />
terrifies me, too. Because I got sick, I worry that my sister,<br />
my daughter and my two nieces may get sick one day, too.<br />
On the positive side, my experience has shown me that you<br />
can fight cancer and win. My sister, brother and I will all<br />
be very proactive with our daughters about the importance<br />
of taking responsibility for their own health. It’s gratifying<br />
to know that friends and family say that my experience with<br />
breast cancer has given them hope that if they were ever<br />
diagnosed that they could come through to the other side, too.<br />
In the midst of my diagnosis and treatment, I would<br />
ask myself “why me?” Now I know why. I am one of<br />
the lucky ones. Lucky to have survived cancer. Lucky to<br />
have a new outlook on life, and lucky to be able to pay<br />
it forward to others living through those difficult days<br />
by offering them hope that they, too, will survive. ■<br />
N RSE<br />
.........................<br />
We can help with:<br />
Drug and alcohol use<br />
Quitting smoking<br />
Healthy eating<br />
Sexual health questions<br />
Achieving a healthy weight<br />
www.niagararegion.ca/health<br />
30
Local<br />
Love<br />
Garden<br />
Project<br />
By Lydia Tomek, Notre Dame<br />
College School alumnus and<br />
Winemaker at Hernder Estate<br />
Wines<br />
Lydia Tomek peeks over growing plants at St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School in Welland.<br />
have always dreamed<br />
I of having my very own<br />
vineyard and a large<br />
community farm where<br />
I could make wine and<br />
have children visit to<br />
teach them about the<br />
importance of food,<br />
ecosystems, the soil, the<br />
environment, and most<br />
importantly survival. I<br />
grew up in Welland and<br />
come from a family made<br />
up of three daughters, and<br />
when we were younger<br />
us Tomek girls attended<br />
St. Joseph and St. Andrew<br />
Catholic Elementary<br />
Schools.<br />
often go back and visit the neighbourhood<br />
frequently as my parent<br />
I<br />
still live in the home we grew up in.<br />
Early this year I made a decision to<br />
stop dreaming, and made a choice that<br />
I was going to build a school garden. I<br />
decided to call it the LocaLove Garden<br />
Project and picked St. Andrew as my<br />
school of choice.<br />
So why the name LocaLove? Simple, I<br />
wanted a name that represented me<br />
and my vision. Loca is my nickname,<br />
and Love the key ingredient to any success<br />
story. Put the two together and<br />
you make LocaLove , love from within<br />
the community.<br />
After meeting with the Principal of<br />
St. Andrew School, Carla Bianco, I<br />
emphasized why I thought it was important<br />
for her school to receive a gift<br />
of a garden. I wasn’t going through all<br />
this work and trouble because it was the<br />
trendy thing to do, I was doing it because<br />
it was necessary.<br />
Having a school garden is showing<br />
kids a different type of classroom<br />
that they may have never seen before.<br />
Food is life, and food must be cared for,<br />
grown and harvested. This simple project<br />
not only exposes them to what is<br />
necessary for life, it encourages them<br />
to respect the earth, understand hard<br />
work, get their hands dirty, and be part<br />
of that love which goes into our food. It<br />
also gives an opportunity for the children<br />
to be exposed and learn about<br />
healthy food, seed preparation, planting<br />
and building.<br />
Our special garden was to be made<br />
up of four sections and built from<br />
recycled material I was able to source<br />
at work and through some of my colleagues.<br />
Each section had its own<br />
meaning and purpose. A vegetable garden,<br />
a pumpkin patch, a prayer garden,<br />
and a flower garden. During the winter<br />
I managed to collect many egg cartons<br />
and yogurt containers that I used<br />
as mini planters each week in spring<br />
with the children. I also cut back on my<br />
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Lydia Tomek and one of her many enthusiastic student helpers in the garden at St. Andrew Catholic Elementary School.<br />
Starbucks consumption and used that<br />
money I saved to buy mini shovels, soil<br />
fabric, seeds, potting soil and T-shirts<br />
for the kids.<br />
Each Friday I would meet with a class<br />
and we would plant, plan out the size<br />
of the garden, paint, shovel, and transplant<br />
our seedlings. Our goal was to<br />
have our special seeds flourish into edibles<br />
we could use for lunches and flowers<br />
to attract butterflies and pollinating<br />
bees.<br />
sourced some old wooden pallets<br />
I from (Hernder Estates) winery, and<br />
cut them up to size so that the students<br />
and I could assemble them into our<br />
large planter boxes. A few vegetable<br />
seeds came from my family’s heirloom<br />
collection of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers,<br />
string bean and squash seeds,<br />
and the giant pumpkin seeds were generously<br />
donated by the people at Stokes<br />
Seeds. I required approximately 8 metric<br />
tonnes of topsoil and I was blessed<br />
by some friends from Cotton Inc. who<br />
delivered it to the school for me.<br />
In late spring, our seedlings were<br />
flourishing. I guess the students were<br />
really paying attention when I taught<br />
them the secret behind having a “green<br />
thumb.” We had a room full of healthy<br />
little plants from each class. They<br />
ranged from daisies and beans to cucumbers,<br />
squash, lettuce, broccoli, giant<br />
pumpkins, peppers, and tomatoes.<br />
Our beautiful garden was becoming a<br />
reality!<br />
Once the boxes were lined, filled and<br />
reinforced, it was time for the students<br />
to transplant the seedlings we<br />
sowed. I made sure that for this day<br />
the prayer garden had a special gift in it<br />
too and planted the school memory tree<br />
for a loved staff member who passed<br />
away a few years ago. The idea was for<br />
each class to pick a perennial and plant<br />
around the tree so that each classroom<br />
was represented and there was something<br />
familiar for the students to reflect<br />
on when going to the prayer garden.<br />
Throughout the summer, St. Andrew’s<br />
great custodian Teresa Paonessa<br />
tended the garden during the week and<br />
I checked up on it occasionally. This<br />
year, we were blessed with just the right<br />
amount of rain to help our garden grow.<br />
When I look back now it’s amazing how<br />
many vegetables the school was able to<br />
enjoy from it. Maybe it was the rain,<br />
maybe it was the good soil...I think it<br />
was the love that went into it. ■<br />
33
Building<br />
Communities<br />
Sam Iftody’s family<br />
has worked the land<br />
in Fenwick for longer<br />
than his 77 years. He is<br />
the fourth generation<br />
farmer at Hollo Maple<br />
Farms. His sons are<br />
fifth. It is uncertain if his<br />
grandchildren, regular<br />
visitors, will be the sixth.<br />
Sam Iftody, owner<br />
of Hollo Maple Farms<br />
in Pelham, believes<br />
it's important to<br />
give back to the<br />
community. He<br />
welcomes groups of<br />
students from several<br />
Niagara Catholic's<br />
Specialist High Skills<br />
Major Programs to<br />
his farm, giving them<br />
the opportunity to<br />
experience life on a<br />
family farm.<br />
“I tell you right now, it’s over,” Iftody<br />
says of the tradition of the family<br />
farm. “In Pelham, there are only a few<br />
vegetable farms left. It’s a 24-hour job.<br />
It’s your whole life.”<br />
Still, he knows that the small farms that<br />
dot the Ontario landscape are integral<br />
to the community. And he knows that<br />
it’s important to continue sharing that<br />
culture of community with people<br />
who might not otherwise have the<br />
opportunity to experience life on a farm.<br />
Iftody has been a regular supporter<br />
of Niagara Catholic schools for years.<br />
He’s welcomed youngsters to come and<br />
visit the farm, pick a pumpkin and see<br />
how vegetables grow. Several years<br />
ago, he expanded his connection with<br />
schools to include bringing Niagara<br />
Catholic Culinary Arts students onto the<br />
farm to pick produce which they then<br />
use to create fresh sauces and salsas<br />
that are donated to Niagara’s local food<br />
banks. It’s a connection created by<br />
Iftody and Marco Magazzeni, Niagara<br />
Catholic’s Student Success Co-ordinator<br />
and a longtime friend of the family.<br />
Magazzeni connected Iftody with<br />
technology teachers across Niagara<br />
Catholic, including Darren Schmahl,<br />
the Horticulture and Landscaping<br />
teacher whose students germinated the<br />
vegetables from seeds then planted the<br />
two-acre plot at Hollo Maple Farms in the<br />
spring, and Joe Sciarra, who teaches the<br />
Board’s Raise Me Up Homebuilding class.<br />
Schmahl’s students primarily focus<br />
on ornamental horticulture, out of<br />
their classroom at the Niagara Parks<br />
34
Students from<br />
the Homebuilding<br />
Specialist High Skills<br />
Major Program use<br />
some downtime<br />
to pick remaining<br />
vegetables for Sam<br />
Iftody at Hollo Maple<br />
Farms in Pelham.<br />
3535
Commission’s School of Horticulture.<br />
He said agricultural horticulture<br />
offers them a whole new perspective.<br />
“If it wasn’t for Sam and<br />
his son George caring for<br />
the plants this summer,<br />
this could never really<br />
have happened,” said Schmahl.<br />
“It was a good experience for my kids<br />
to be able to do something like this.<br />
There is such an important connection<br />
between the food we grow and the<br />
food we eat.”<br />
That message was echoed by Nick<br />
Beauregard, a Grade 11 student at<br />
Denis Morris Catholic High School in St.<br />
Catharines.<br />
“I learned (about) many different types<br />
of plants that are used to help feed our<br />
community,” he said. “Working on the<br />
farm showed me that the things we<br />
need to survive do not come easy to us.<br />
I learned about the amount of work that<br />
goes into harvesting all of the vegetables<br />
so that they can be processed and sold.<br />
(By learning these things) I have gained<br />
a greater respect for farmers and what<br />
they do to help feed our community.”<br />
When the food is grown and picked, it is<br />
handed over to Culinary Arts students<br />
to work their magic.<br />
Students prepare to<br />
go to the fields at<br />
Sam Iftody's farm,<br />
to collect the few<br />
vegetables remaining<br />
in late October.<br />
Vincenza Smith, the Culinary Arts teacher<br />
at Saint Paul Catholic High School, had<br />
students working in the school’s kitchen<br />
to prepare fresh pasta sauce and salsa<br />
verde from the produce picked on the<br />
farm. That food was then donated to<br />
local soup kitchens and food banks,<br />
such as The Hope Centre in Welland<br />
and Project SHARE in Niagara <strong>Fall</strong>s.<br />
“The definition of family has changed<br />
dramatically and importance of<br />
community has increased,” says<br />
Smith. “This farm to table (project)<br />
has exposed the students of the<br />
importance of community working<br />
together to help those less fortunate,<br />
the importance of family and traditions<br />
and values. The importance of faith<br />
and giving thanks for what we have!”<br />
This year, a new crop of students is<br />
working the land at Hollo Maple Farms,<br />
albeit in a different way.<br />
36
Sam Iftody (back<br />
right) surveys the last<br />
of the tomato crop,<br />
while students from<br />
the Homebuilding<br />
Specialist High<br />
Skills Major pick the<br />
remaining ones from<br />
the vines.<br />
37
The students in Joe Sciarra’s Raise Me Up<br />
Homebuilding class first began working<br />
at Hollo Maple Farms in September. They<br />
expected their work would be limited to<br />
building a permanent vegetable stand.<br />
They soon learned that a big part of<br />
working on a farm means rolling up their<br />
sleeves and pitching in – even if it’s doing<br />
something you wouldn’t expect to do.<br />
A perfect example of that happened in<br />
mid-October. When the construction<br />
project got a little bit ahead of schedule<br />
and the students found themselves<br />
with time on their hands, Iftody<br />
soon gave them something to do.<br />
“I put them to work,” says Iftody from<br />
his perch on the golf cart he uses to get<br />
around the property.<br />
“Work” meant heading out into the fields,<br />
picking pumpkins and washing squash<br />
which would be sold on the farm and<br />
trucked to farmers markets in Niagara<br />
and the Ontario Food Terminal in Toronto.<br />
Iftody is impressed by the commitment<br />
the students put in to everything they<br />
do on the farm, whether it’s related<br />
to their program or giving farm staff a<br />
helping hand.<br />
“The kids out here – they<br />
really get into it,” Iftody<br />
says, watching one group building<br />
the cinderblock foundation of the<br />
stand and another making their way<br />
into the fields. “They are very<br />
disciplined. They have to<br />
be.”<br />
Madison Raymond, a Grade 12 student at<br />
Notre Dame College School in Welland,<br />
has grown up in a construction family.<br />
But she’d never tried her hand at the<br />
work involved in building until this class.<br />
“I took the course to see what I like<br />
and what I don’t like,” says Raymond,<br />
who isn’t yet certain if she’ll get into the<br />
bricks-and-mortar side of construction.<br />
“It’s been very interesting.”<br />
Connor Forster, a Grade 12 student at<br />
Denis Morris said learning in an off-site<br />
classroom, such as a construction site,<br />
gives students a great advantage over<br />
those whose knowledge only comes<br />
from reading about something in a book.<br />
Sam Iftody has<br />
opened his farm<br />
to three different<br />
Specialist High Skills<br />
Major Programs:<br />
Horticulture students<br />
planted the seeds and<br />
some crops, Culinary<br />
Arts students picked<br />
vegetables and made<br />
farm-fresh sauces and<br />
salsa for local food<br />
banks and agencies<br />
and the Homebuilding<br />
students are creating<br />
a permanent<br />
vegetable stand for<br />
Iftody.<br />
38
In addition to gaining<br />
practical work<br />
experience, students<br />
are learning about the<br />
challenges that face<br />
small farms. They<br />
are also giving back,<br />
providing labour to<br />
Iftody in a variety of<br />
different ways.<br />
39
Students picked,<br />
washed and stored<br />
pumpkins for Sam<br />
Iftody to sell at Hollo<br />
Maple Farms, and at<br />
farmer's markets.<br />
“We’re learning practical skills in a<br />
trade, and this is a way better way to do<br />
it than learning it in some construction<br />
class in high school,” Forster says.<br />
According to Magazzeni,<br />
“That’s the reward. This<br />
partnership enhances<br />
the opportunities for<br />
students within their<br />
classes and builds<br />
community, Students learn<br />
about supporting their<br />
local farmer and in turn<br />
supporting their local<br />
community. Working with<br />
the Iftody’s embodies a<br />
real ‘family’ relationship<br />
with our students and over<br />
four generations of family<br />
members maintaining<br />
vegetable fields. This is<br />
what Niagara Catholic is<br />
about.” ■<br />
40