2 – Leaders of Tomorrow 2010 Monday, March 29, 2010 — THE MEDICINE HAT NEWS

Berekti Northcott was adopted from Ethiopia about 15 years ago by a local couple Richard (Dick)and Deb Northcott. After adopting Berekti and her brother Haddush, Deb and Dick started a charity to help children that would never be adopted. The charity is called Canadian Humanitarian. Three years ago, Berekti traveled back to Ethiopia to visit her birth place and volunteer in Canadian Humanitarian projects. She had a great time and at the beginning of the 2009 school year, Berekti wanted to give back more. She decided to form a club at Crescent Heights High School - Alberta to Ethiopia was formed by Berekti and her friends with a mandate to help children in Ethiopia. Through two events, a 24 Hour Famine and a bake sale, the group has raised over $1,000. Berekti traveled to Ethiopia with Canadian Humanitarian again in February to volunteer in the group's projects. She was able to teach the children dance. She nows has footage for Alberta to Ethiopia's next fundraiser — a dance competition. Berekti is a pleasure to work with and a great volunteer.

Berekti Northco

Bryan Martin has been with CORE since last March. He is a valued volunteer. He is always willing to do any task he is presented and shows great enthusiasm. Brian works well with the other individuals and is a very positive role model for them. He is working in the kitchen and in janitorial hoping to gain skills that may lead to employment one day. Bryan also takes part in other activities at CORE such as participating in Step by Step Art Awareness. He enjoys being creative and is always willing to help out cleaning up or helping his peers.

Bryan Martin

Emily Simon is a 15 year old student who attends Grade 10 at Medicine Hat High School. She is a fun and free spirited young lady who got involved in Guiding as a Spark Junior Leader to improve on her social skills. Emily was very shy and just blossomed around the young girls. She loves working with children and babysitting and has a passion for baking and trying out new recipes. Emily has been involved in various organizations, volunteering where she can such as helping in her schools with the yard duty, supervising younger children on the playground, delivering milk and lunches for the lunch programs, fundraising to help build wells in Guatamala, raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation in Ontario by participating in their Jump Rope for Heart event. Emily enjoys writing poems and is interested in photography. She also enjoys the outdoors and loves biking and camping.

Emily Simon

Bret Riedlinger graduated from Medicine Hat High School in 2008 and started volunteering with the Esplanade that September. Bret jumped into a number of events — everything from helping to unload sets for a ballet to being a guide for school tours. She has contributed over 580 hours since she started with us. Bret is the oldest of five children and is currently enrolled at Medicine Hat College in the Early Learning & Child Care Diploma program. She is an accomplished artist and loves being around children. Bret says, "Kids can do no wrong when doing art."

Bre Riedlinger

Courtney Hochheimer lives at home with her parents Rhonda and Dave, her sister Tanisha and her dog Mojo. She has two older sisters and a niece that live in Llyodminister and Dewberry. She enjoys babysitting, going for walks, camping and enjoying nature. She often volunteers her time to take her cousins to the park. She is very reliable, caring and a good friend. She is currently in Grade 10 at Cresent Heights High School. She would like to work with young children, young adults and adults with special needs in the future. She is a Junior Leader with Westminster Sparks unit and has been a very valued leaders' helper for at the last three years. She helps leaders organize crafts, field trips, games, songs and sleepovers. As a member of Girls Guides for the last nine years, she has done numerous volunteering throughout Medicine Hat including gift wrapping for United Way at the mall, collecting and sorting food for the food bank and she has also decorated hospital waiting rooms at Christmas time.

Courtne Hochheimer

Brian Sloan is 17 years old and participates in many different volunteer opportunities in the community. He coaches basketball; he participates in leadership conferences; he volunteers for Scouts Canada and best of all he volunteers his time to the Youth Centre.Brian also maintains his grades and works part time. He has helped with Redcliff Days, organizes and implements sports days for youth. He shows the youth that sports can be fun and healthy through his character when he organizes the sports. With his open and honest persona, he has become a role model to our younger youth and has inspired our older youth to strive for excellence. The youth always ask when Brian is going to come in and is always excited to have him in the centre. He has become a fixture and a team member in our organization. He has truely made a difference in our youth by showing them that volunteering is just as or more inportant than getting paid. He has made a difference in our community.

Brian Sloan

Courtney Koopmans is in Grade 11 at Medicine Hat High School. She volunteers at her church doing Sunday School and nursery. She is also involved in Friendship, which is a program for mentally and physically impaired adults where she helps them do crafts and read bible stories. Courtney is the program assistant for CanSkate with Cypress School of Skating. In the last two years, she has gone on two service projects to California and Vancouver. In Vancouver, volunteers helped out with the homeless on East Hastings, working in a soup kitchen and various other projects. This summer, Courtney will be going to either New Orleans or Mississippi to help with disaster response from Hurricane Katrina. According to the Cypress School of Skating, "Courtney's demeanour is a very positive influence to our weekly sessions. She continually goes above and beyond both on and off the ice to ensure a smooth flow of our program. She is punctual, polite and friendly with our young athletes. We are proud to nominate this deserving individual."

Courtne Koopmans

Evan Sandham is a student of superior leadership and character. He maintains honours at Crescent Heights High School. He is a dynamic student whose academic excellence is complemented by his creative brilliance and his care for others. He is an example of dedication, reliability, and kindness to all who know him. He is the very best example of a leader in the whole school. The magnetism that exudes when he is on stage captivates audiences. His lead roles in CHHS Musicals include: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Musical 2010, Back To The 80’s Musical 2009, Disney’s High School Musical On Stage Musical 2008, and the Annie Musical 2006. Evan is a key contributing factor to each shows’ record breaking success. He is in an elite member of the Theatre Arts class. He steps forward and volunteers to hang the lights. CHHS has a 300 seat theatre with advanced lighting and sound boards. Evan is a student that can be counted on to do difficult work needed to stage a show. Evan was awarded the Chief Scout Award which takes three years of hard work and dedication to achieve. It is based on four areas; Citizenship, Leadership, Personal Development and Outdoor Skills. Citizenship requires participation in eight service projects. Evan helped a children’s drama troupe providing leadership for young children. He was a Senior Patrol Leader to Scout Patrols and their leaders. He was on the adult leadership team and acted as liaison between the adults and the youth. He organized and conducted camps and skills education evenings for his troop. The Personal Development area is comprised of four areas; spiritual, intellectual, social and physical. Evan demonstrated his knowledge, skills and planning in the outdoors by way of camping, hiking and activities. He is the President of his Venturer Scout Company. He works at a McDonalds restaurant where at the age of 15 was promoted to supervisor. While Evan shows a natural ability to lead in all areas of his life, this ability truly shines through his involvement in Student Council. He is actively engaged in planning and running all activities. Evan ensures that events are positive experiences for his peers. He contributes imaginative ideas to create school spirit and speaks to the student body with confidence and ease capturing the attention of the whole school. He helps with Winter Formal Dances, school video dances, and blue day - a spirit day for CHHS. He represented CHHS at the Alberta Student Leadership Conferences. He is a leader in our Kiwanis Key Club and Students Against Drinking and Driving. He leads meetings and is the key speaker at student assemblies. He volunteers to work tech for events held in the theatre and mixed the sound for the SD76 Public Education telethon. For six years, he has been an active member of the CHHS Concert Band which achieves great accolades. Evan was a soloist for the opening act with Singer Tom Jackson in a fundraiser for the food bank at the Esplanade Theatre.

Evan Sandham

Congratulations to the 2010 Leaders of Tomorrow Nominees! Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8