Media Release - Youth Council and Youth Appreciation Awards
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
West Vancouver, BC - West Vancouver’s 11th annual Youth Appreciation Awards were held on May 7, 2012, in the West Vancouver Seniors’ Activity Centre. These awards acknowledge and honour the youth of West Vancouver and were presented by Mayor Michael Smith and Council, youth emcee Mariela Moen and two members of the Seniors’ Activity Centre Advisory Board, Ken Bryden and Board President Brian Hann.
Youth took the floor at 7 p.m., leading a discussion with Council on what West Vancouver’s centennial means to youth. At 8 p.m., 107 awards highlighting the exceptional leadership, community involvement and significant volunteer contributions of West Vancouver’s youth were handed out in front of a crowd of over 240 family members, community members, District staff and those who had nominated these youth for their various accolades.
Mayor Michael Smith says “Tonight, we had the pleasure of recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of our future leaders. Thank you for your hard work and dedication, your leadership and vision, and your desire to make our community, province and country a better place.”
This year the District of West Vancouver received 40 nominations which were put forward by a variety of organizations including West Vancouver secondary school employees, West Vancouver United Church, West Vancouver Streamkeepers Society, West Vancouver Police Department, West Vancouver Memorial Library, the North Shore Multicultural Society and District of West Vancouver staff. All the nominations reflect the passion and contributions of West Vancouver’s young people.
Youth Council
West Vancouver’s Youth Council and Youth Appreciation Awards is a District initiative created to recognize exceptional youth who exemplify community spirit, and to support the goals of West Vancouver’s Civic Youth Strategy. West Vancouver’s Youth Council is comprised of Youth Mayor Rufina Ip, and Youth Councillors Ashley Kim, Celine Jeon, Jenny Diemer, Julie Jeon, Hannah Robinovitch and Sierra Webb.
Youth Appreciation Awards
For 2012, youth received awards in two categories: Youth Community Enhancement and Youth Team Service Awards.
Youth Community Enhancement Award
This category recognizes the individual youth who have made a positive contribution to the community on a voluntary basis such as: Developing a project, serving on a committee and other volunteer work with organizations and groups.
• Johnnie Stuart Allan
• Andrea Armstrong
• Margaret Berton
• Turner Douglas Arthur Brown
• Sophie Chappell
• Stephanie Eggerston
• Leili Ghaemi
• Clay Hamilton
• Rachel Christina Hirst
• Celine Jeon
• Julie Jeon
• Jenna MacDonald
• Lexi MacDonald
• Tatiana Mawani
• Lucy Moger
• Hilary Rejto
• Dorothy Rhee
• Anna Nicole Robertson
• Maia Robinson
• Minah Seo
• Lauren Taaffe
• Julia Tikhonova
• Nicolette Tsavdaris
• Ilyana Lenae Sophia Voth
• Sabrina Wang
• Yi Tao Wang
• Jenelle Weidner
• Henry Yan
Outstanding Youth Team Service Award
This award recognizes a group of youth who have completed a minimum of 50 hours per person of service resulting in enhanced programs and/or services for their school or a local or global community.
• Melissa Godin, Hannah-Rose Radford, Natasha Virani
• Stephanie Chang, Angelica Noh, Emily Wei, Su Ji An
• Kirsten Bradford, Ryley Dewar, Sam Gray, Sarah Gregson, Natasha Heavyside, Blake Henderson, Jillian Trach, Tara Tyab, Arek Sredzki, Alex Kyriazis, Duncan Lewis, Scott Panther
• Cindy Choi, David Chuang, Clover Kang, Ariel Shao, Steven Zhang
• Graham Brown, Weizhen Jeff Li
• Mark Bakhet, Florence Belanger-Jones, Adam Chandani, Noojan Mazaheri
• Dikran Karakas, Babak Khorsand, Emma Lian, Sam Shahrokhi, Lucy Zhao, Minyi Zhu
• Nicole Compagna, Jamie Heale, Mike Heale, Sam Ives, Brigitte Matheusik, Ben Morley-Senkler, Vivian Morley-Senkler
• Nicole Cheung, Rachel Ingram, Portia Spencer, Danielle Windt
• Lara-Sophie Boleslawsky, Rachel Dyck, Faranak Ghorbani, Christine Grigorian, Lauren Hamilton, Kevin Hunt, Celine Jeon, Julie Jeon, Katie Kwan, Madeleine Lamer, Lily Landy, Sean Larsen, Joshua Larsen, Jackson Lees, Rhys Mann, Hilary Rejto, Amir Rose, Minah Seo
• Su Ji An, Celine Chen, Jenny Diemer, Grace Geng, Samiya Hassan, Rufina Ip, Celine Jeon, Julie Jeon, Ashley Kim, Mariela Moen, Hannah Robinovitch, Alex Son, Julia Tikhonova, Jillian Trach, Sierra Webb
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 Michael Smith 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
c: 604-360-8131 | d: 604-925-4736 | jdelaney@westvancouver.ca
Photo Requests
Melanie Clark, Youth Program Coordinator
d: 604-925-7222 | mclark@westvancouver.ca
Please allow us a few days to respond to all photo requests