This week Bow Valley High School and Cochrane High honoured students who as future leaders will play a critical role in helping shape our community and society for the better.
Hearing the incredible stories of youth in our community and their push to make our society better, one cannot help but be inspired.
It has become cliché to say that the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow, however, Cochranites show that this idiom remains true.
It has been an exciting week and one of the stand out stories has been the Cochrane High School Sustainable Development Committee being crowned winners of the Alberta Emerald Award for Climate Change.
These students were able to tap into their creativity and create an innovative project that actively works to take on and combat the process of climate change.
The group took home the award for its Sustainable Development Project Phase IX Rooftop Solar Array. One can drive to the top of Sunterra and look down to see the project sitting on the school like a crown filled with solar panel jewels.
Projects pursued by the group span an array of unique and innovative ideas from their award-winning solar panel project to helping push for policy changes at the school that encourage sustainable action.
These students chose to go against the established norm to create an unique project that will have a lasting legacy at the school.
“We try and do whatever we can,” said committee member and Grade 12 student Travis Price. “Our committee focuses on sustainable projects for the environment— we want to set a precedent for other schools to follow.”
True societal change comes about with disruptions to our daily lives and these youth are inspiring because they have been able to think outside the box to create a legacy that embraces environmentalism.
They show that disruption can be harnessed to create meaningful and lasting change.
Serving as further inspiration Carleton University student and Black Lives Matter advocate Natasha Gicuhi shows us how one person can push to create a better society for all.
Gicuhi is looking to help spark a conversation in the community about racism in Cochrane and the need to be anti-racist.
This young woman is taking the first step in helping to create a community that is more inclusive and treats all residents as equal.
While the message of Black Lives Matter may appear disrupting to some, it is a critical message that needs to be unpacked and embraced.
This is an important message and one we need to take to heart and learn from.
“We’re moving forward as a society and if we don’t talk about it then we won’t change,” Gicuhi said. “Talking about it is the first step towards equality and approaching even larger issues like systemic racism.”
Gicuhi is sharing tools for our collective tool belt that can be accessed and used to ensure all members of our community are treated with kindness and equality.
Both Gicuhi and the Cochrane High School Sustainable Development Committee demonstrate how much we have to learn and the power that can be tapped into by working together to make the world a better place.
These stories are made all the more special because they come after a year of chaos where students have been unmoored and separated from their peers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They chose to rise above the adversity they have faced— Instead of wallowing in despair, they have used the disruptive time of the COVID-19 pandemic to reflect and find a way to help make their community better.
This is a critical lesson that we can all draw motivation from— Disruption is not something to be feared. We can embrace the unknown and create solutions that lead to a better future for all.
