Last Thursday evening (April 11), twenty-seven young people were celebrated at the Cochrane RancheHouse as part of the annual Leaders of Tomorrow celebration.

Youth from grades 1 through 12, were nominated for their volunteering, positive attitude, or initiatives that make our community a better place to call home

While in past years the Leaders of Tomorrow celebration has been put together by an organizing committee, this year, Renita Bartlett, Community Liason and Programmer for the Voluntary Sector says she wanted the event to be all about youth. "It was such an amazing event and experience. When I had the vision of youth honouring and celebrating youth, that was exactly what I saw."

Taking a step back and allowing the youth to facilitate and plan the event, was a great experience for all. "That was one of my favourite parts; letting the youth take it where it needed to go. Letting them have the experience of seeing something that they created unravel."

Learning about and listening to the nominee submission forms, is when you realize how many great young people we have in town. "It is a heartwarming experience when you get the nominations rolling in and you read what the youth are doing in this community; they really step it up."

Having an opportunity to hear feedback from some of the award recipients, Bartlett shares all the youth were excited just to be nominated. "They really wanted to let me know how grateful they were. Of course, parents came up even before the event started and shared they were really happy and proud of their kiddos."

Canadian Paralympic Snowboarder, Michelle Salt was the Keynote Speaker for the event while Gregg Schaalje, Co-Founder of Project All In presented each recipient with their very own coin promoting mental health resilience. Although the two stories were different in nature, both shared how facing adversity head-on, no matter how difficult, can lead to great places. "We all experience adversity in life and different challenges, and it is about how we make it through and really honouring that commitment. When Gregg talked about the buffalo that really resonated with me, in regards to this event. One of the characteristics of a buffalo is that when it sees a challenge it goes straight into it head first while many other animals would back up or run away."

With such positive feedback, Bartlett doesn't anticipate too many changes but says she will leave that up to the decision makers. "I can't speak to any changes right now, but we'll be putting together a group of youth that is really wanting to step it up and lead this event next year, and then I will go in the direction they want to take it.

The following youth were recognized as Leaders of Tomorrow:

  • Jack Thompson
  • Keegan Rasmusen
  • Dusty Bennett
  • Hanna Bell
  • Bryce and Logan Caldwell
  • Haley Martens
  • Jade Janzen
  • Dawson Gunderman
  • April Bushrod
  • Caitlin Burns
  • Erin Bridle
  • Scotty Gilbert
  • Rhiannon Lympany
  • Jillian Sanborn
  • Cody Wunder
  • Hope Brennan
  • Kaia Ntwari
  • Katrina Hegmann
  • Cedar Engdahl
  • Angellana Patterson
  • Sara Harris
  • Georgia Hargreaves-Kessler
  • Joroel Cox