Media Release - West Vancouver Recognizes Youth at Youth Council and Youth Awards

Friday, May 13, 2011

More than 250 people attended West Vancouver’s annual Youth Council and Youth Awards on Monday, May 9, 2011.  Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones says: “The Youth Council and Awards night is an incredible inspiration for our community.  For 16 years West Vancouver Council has proudly turned a Council meeting over to youth leaders and listened to their debate. This year their chosen topic was how to encourage young people to vote, and to serve in public life.  This is a crucial question for all of us, and we salute their leadership and commitment to a better community."

Youth Council
Youth Mayor, Ye Ji An, and Youth Councillors, Rufina Ip, Jillian Trach, Minah Seo, Mariela Moen, Julia Tikhonova, and Su Ji An, debated whether or not the legal voting age in Canada should be lowered. The final resolution was a report back to Council to confirm the pros and cons of lowering the voting age, with all Youth Councillors in favour of further investigation. Following the Youth Council meeting, Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones and Youth Mayor Ye Ji An, presented the Youth Awards.

Youth Awards
For the Youth Awards there were three categories: Youth Recognition, Youth Community Enhancement, and Youth Team Service Awards. Over 160 individuals have been nominated by the West Vancouver School District, local churches, West Vancouver Police Department, the North Shore Multicultural Society, District staff and youth themselves. Over 100 individuals were recognized at the awards ceremony.

The award recipients included:

Individual Youth Recognition Award
Alexander McCarter
Kevin Humphries
Erin Clippingdale-Dixon

Youth Community Enhancement Award
Andrew Martin
Samantha Cressey
Julia Tikhonova
Alexandra Roberts-Mendel
Cheng-Ju (David) Chuan & Cindy You Na Choi
Brenda Baker
Brook Mailey
Ameeqa Ali & Armaan Ali
Jake Larson

Outstanding Youth Team Service Awards

  • Group #1: Laura Matthias, Perry Finnbogason, Kelly Trach, Jillian Trach, Kristen Bradford, Lauren Telford, Jonathan Harrison, Sam Gray, Scott Panther & Tara Tyab
  • Group #2: Ariana Sairafi & Katrina Davis
  • Group #3: Sheida Arjmandi, Nakisa Kiai, Rozita Taeidi &  Lauren Desjardins
  • Group #4: Alex Pai, Alexa Barran, Alexia Jeangrand, Alina Salemohamed, Armaan Malhorta, Clement Chui, Dora Leung, Emma Choo, Haley Stuart, James Shih, Karina Faruya, Laura Pan, Lina Chang, Maya Uhryniuk, Melissa Chui, Michelle Wong, Nabil Kamdar, Nathan Chan, Nicole Hui, Queenie Sui, Ryan Yan, Sammy Morrison, Sonia Lee, Hannah Robinovitch, Michelle Tam, Alaina Wong, Jason Kim, Melissa Winkler, Hayley Elliot, Caitlin Jeangrand, Taylor Stratford, shley Callister,  Katie Kwan, Jason Kim, Mikaela Verigin, Marcie Weiss, Sanja Vicentijevic, Vivian Lin, Cherry Fung and Kim Lee
  • Group #5: Taylor Balagno, Sarah Won, Claire Longcroft, Alexandra Roberts-Mendel & Jonathan Harrison
  • Group #6: Jonathan Harrison, Kelsey Dennison, Laura Gadiner, Tyler Son, Brian Irwin & Callum Kelpin
  • Group #7: Angelica Noh, Charles Pan, Eva Jordinson, Joseph McDaniel, Su Ji An & Wonjun Kim
  • Group #8:  Amir Rose, Andrew Moore, Bryan Leong, Celine Jeon, Elizabeth Bell-Fumagalli, George Bell-Fumagalli, Hillary Rejito, Jackson Lees, Joshua Larsen, Julie Jeon, Kevin Hunt, Lauren Hamilton, Lily Landy, Lin Chen, Minah Seo, Peter Miller, Rachael Dyck and Zacharia Mok
  • Group # 9: Danielle TenVaanholt, Jordan Lewis and Caroline Leitch
  • Group #10: Jack MacPhail and Elham Hassantash
  • Group # 11: Dikran Karakas, Emma Lian, Jiali Chen, Lucy Zhao, Minah Seo, Minyi Zhu, Peter Miller, Rufina Ip, and Surhyun Hur
  • Group #12: Armaan Ali, Hossein Sahiholnasab, and Charlie Hart
  • Group #13: Tatiana Mawani, Lexi Macdonald and Kristina Cho
  • Group #14: Kelsey Dennison, Callum Kelpin and Lisa Tejpar
  • Group #15: Alex Son, Ashley Kim, Celine Chen, Chloe Kim, Hannah Robinovitch, Jamilla Janmohamed, Jiali Chen, Jillian Trach, Julia Tikhonova, Juliette Levine, Kelly Trach, Mariela Moen, Minah Seo, Rachael Dyck, Rachel Ingram, Rufina Ip, Samiya Hassan, Sierra Webb, Su Ji An, Tiffany Liao  and Ye Ji An

All photos and video of the event are available to view at westvancouver.ca/youth.

About Youth Week
Youth Week began in British Columbia in 1995, when a small group of youth workers in the lower mainland, including West Vancouver, decided to take time to celebrate the contributions of youth in our communities. Around the world, communities celebrate the value, diversity and accomplishments of youth during the first week of May. Wherever Youth Week is celebrated, the spirit and intent is the same: young people are important agents of change whose accomplishments need to be recognized and celebrated.”

About the District of West Vancouver
The District of West Vancouver is the local government led by Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones and Council. Home to more than 44,000 residents, West Vancouver is a local government which strives to "inspire excellence and lead by example". Our Vision and Mission guide us to pursue our treasured quality of life and will be the measure of our success as a community. West Vancouver is a community built on innovation, a strong spirit of personal civic commitment and a deep value for relationships.

Media Contact:
Jessica Delaney, Director of Communications
Cell: 604-360-8131
Direct: 604-925-4736

Photo Requests:
Melanie Clark
Please allow us a few days to respond