Ten students and their families gathered in Province House yesterday to be presented with the first-ever Premier’s Power of Positive Change Awards.
The award was created to honour students who contribute to their schools and communities by developing an activity that promotes positive behaviour. The winners receive a certificate and a $2,000 bursary toward their post-secondary education.
Among the recipients was Megan Beaudoin, a Grade 11 student from Prince Andrew High School, who was involved in the Independent Living Nova Scotia Association for years before starting her own initiative called IUnique.
“(It) focuses on ethnicity and accepting people” she said of the program.
“It’s really awesome that she’s getting recognition for something that she’s been really wanting to do for a while,” her boyfriend, Glenn Allen, added.
Almost 100 students in Nova Scotia were nominated for the award. The chosen students were each highlighted for making significant impacts in their communities.
For example Marion Miller, a Grade 12 student at Dr. J.H. Gillis High School, organized Antigonish’s first Gay Pride parade. And Chandler Dunnington, a Grade 7 student at Sackville Heights Junior High School, developed the online magazine Kidz Talk, which promotes conversation between adults and children.
Beaudoin said she’s not finished working to help her community. She plans on using her grant to help pay for university tuition after finishing high school next year.
“I want to become a social worker,” she said about her future.
