The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Scholarship

The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame / Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life announced yesterday the four student recipients of their Scholarship Award. Shad Valley is pleased to congratulate Wyanne Law, Shad alumna from McMaster 2008, who is among the recipients.

Wyanne, from Mississauga, ON, is the only Ontarian recipient of the award that is available to high school students who are aspiring to a career in medicine or the health sciences. It provides $1,000 each year towards a four-year undergraduate degree at a Canadian university. The selection is made by a committee of university representatives chosen by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada.

An aspiring Pediatrician, Wyanne plans to attend Queen's university this fall to study Life Sciences before attending medical school. "I am extremely honoured to be awarded with this scholarship... not only as financial support for university to pursue my academic interests, but also as encouragement to strive for higher goals," says Wyanne.

Congratulations to Wyanne on her tremendous achievement! For more information on the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame scholarship, please click here. To see the complete list of winners, please visit this link.

Five Shad Valley alumni receive TD Canada Trust Scholarships

Shad Valley is very pleased to congratulate our alumni who secured five of 20 available TD Canada Trust Scholarships for Community Leadership this year. There were 60 finalists across the country, many of them also Shad alumni.

Our five alumni recipients for 2009 are:

Eden Full (See the blog entry directly below this one to read a story on Eden)
2008 Shad Valley Trent
Hometown: Calgary, AB

Vijay Jeyapalan
2008 Shad Valley Dalhousie
Hometown: Markham, ON

Vino Jeyapalan
2008 Shad Valley University of New Brunswick
Hometown: Markham, ON

Rebecca Reiss
2008 Shad Valley McMaster
Hometown: Surrey, BC

Mauricio Ruiz
2008 Shad Valley Carleton
Hometown: Whitehorse, Yukon

The TD Canada Trust Scholarships, valued at $70,000, are awarded to outstanding young Canadians who have made a difference in their community. Last year, two Shad alumni received this award and two alumni were also awarded in 2007.

Shad Valley would also like to acknowledge and thank TD Bank Financial Group for their long-term support of the Shad Valley program, through funding and internships.

To learn more about the TD Canada Trust Scholarships, please visit their website. This year’s recipients should be posted soon.

Shad Valley alumni named recipients of the Top 20 Under 20

Shad Valley is very pleased to congratulate four alumni who are 2009 Top 20 Under 20 honourees. Beth Ferreira, 2008 Shad Valley Memorial; Alex Shipillo, 2005 Shad Valley Memorial; Michael Xu, 2008 Shad Valley Queen's; and Xingyu Zhou, 2008 Shad Valley McMaster, are recipients of this tremendous award, announced June 3.

Beth Ferreira, from Winnipeg MB, first began volunteering at Fisheries and Oceans Canada at age 14. Now 17, Beth has conducted hundreds of hours of research, primarily focusing on less-invasive methods to test animal tissue. Winning recognition on the national stage, Beth loves to share her passion and inspire others.

Alex Shipillo, 19, is from Vancouver BC. His work with Impact Entrepreneurship group (founded by Shad alumnus Kunal Gupta in 2004) inspired him to start two major youth-oriented projects. The first, Youth Canada, offers an online resource for students interested in education and entrepreneurship. The second, Impact's Microcredit Competition, encourages social entrepreneurship among high school students through a weeklong competition to raise funds for charity.

Michael Xu, from Kanata, Ontario, founded Vestige Gear in 2008, an online, registered corporation that is a channel for collaborative, youth-generated ideas and designs. Now 17, Michael worked tirelessly to market two shoe models and sell over two hundred in ten countries. Vestige reached its goal of raising $20,000 for an all girl's school in Kenya. Funds will be used for education and clean water initiatives.

Xingyu Zhou, Shad's youngest Top 20 recipient, is only 16 but she has already worked tirelessly to discover medical related uses for tree bark in her hometown of Saskatoon SK. Traveling to the north of the province, Xingyu's work has led to findings for potential cancer-treating medicines. Her two-year project is recognized as one "with the most commercial potential" by the Monsanto Commercialization Award and received a silver medal at the Canada Wide Science Fair in 2007.

All recipients receive $5,000 towards university studies, participation in a 4-day leadership summit in Toronto and many other benefits.

The Top 20 Under 20 award rewards youth who display a significant level of innovation, leadership and achievement. A primary requirement is that their leadership and innovation has improved their school, community, province and/or country. 42 finalists are selected and 20 recipients are chosen.

To learn more, please click here and for a complete list of this year's winners, click here.

Shad alumni receive National Millennium Entrance Award

Shad Valley is very pleased to congratulate alumni who recently received Canadian Millennium Scholarship Entrance Awards. Over 1000 awards are given in three separate categories: local, provincial, and national. Recipients at the national level receive a $25,000 award towards their undergraduate education.

This year, over 70 Shad Valley alumni were recipients . Shad’s 13 national winners are listed below; click here to see a list of all recipients.

Adil Adatia, 2008 Shad McMaster
Eric Coomes, 2007 Shad Memorial
Sophia Dhalla, 2008 Shad McMaster
Elizabeth Ferreira, 2008 Shad Memorial
Eden Full, 2008 Shad Trent
Teal Kreuger, 2008 Shad Waterloo
Conor Kyte, 2008 Shad Laval
Lauren Long, 2009 Shad Carleton
Amy Nadeem, 2008 Shad Waterloo
Mauricio Ruiz, 2008 Shad Carleton
Sonya Wadhera, 2008 Shad Queens
Siqi Xue, 2008 Shad Memorial
Emily Yorke, 2008 Shad Laval

Miller Thomson Scholars Announced

Shad Valley is pleased to congratulate 22 alumni recipients of the 2009 Miller Thomson Scholarship, awarded by Miller Thomson LLP. The scholarship, worth $1,000, is open to students in their final year of high school, pursuing secondary education in the fall. Winners are announced in the Globe and Mail on June 27. 200 recipients are awarded in total, out of 2,660+ applicants this year.

This year's Shad Valley recipients are:

Ivneet Bains, Surrey, BC; École Panorama Ridge Secondary School
Shad Valley 2009 Lakehead University

Mitchell Cahill, Halifax, NS; Halifax West High School
Shad Valley 2008 University of Waterloo

Florence Chan, Toronto, ON; Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Andy Chau, Burnaby, BC ; Burnaby North Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 Queen’s University

Eric Coomes, Oakville, ON; Appleby College
Shad Valley 2007 MUN

Connor Emdin, Belleville, ON; Moira Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 Dalhousie University

Elizabeth Ferreira, Winnipeg, MB; Fort Richmond Collegiate
Shad Valley 2008 MUN

Eden Full, Calgary, AB; John G. Diefenbaker High School
Shad Valley 2008 Trent University

David Koke, Burnaby, BC; Burnaby Central Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 MUN

Wyanne Law, Mississauga, ON; Glenforest Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Rachel Lay, Oakville, ON; St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School
Shad Valley 2008 University of Waterloo

Amanda Lee, Nepean, ON; John McCrae Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 UNB

Adam Melanson, Fredericton, NB; Fredericton High School
Shad Valley 2008 Trent University

Alyssa Moledina, Toronto, ON; University of Toronto Schools
Shad Valley 2007 Dalhousie University

Jessica Moloney, St. Albert, AB; Bellerose Composite High School
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Bhavika Patel, Toronto, ON; University of Toronto Schools
Shad Valley 2008 Carleton University

Andrea Quon, Lethbridge, AB; Lethbridge Collegiate Institute
Shad Valley 2008 UNB

Ankur Ralhan, St. John's, NL; Gonzaga Regional High School
Shad Valley 2008 University of Calgary

Juwan Ryu, Burlington, ON; Nelson High School
Shad Valley 2007 MUN

Ruphen Shaw, Burnaby, BC; Moscrop Secondary School
Shad Valley 2008 McMaster University

Julia Wall, Fall River, NS; Lockview High School
Shad Valley 2008 Queen’s University

Emily Yorke, Sydney Mines, NS; Memorial Composite High School
Shad Valley 2008 Université Laval

The Miller Thomson scholarships encourage and promote the attainment of higher educational goals. Students are considered based on level of academic achievement, contribution to their school and contribution of time and energy to community service programmes. To see a complete list of recipients, please click here.

Congratulations to all Shad Valley alumni award recipients!

News from abroad

Wren Laing, who attended Shad Valley Queen's in 2007, is currently volunteering in Kenya for a 2-month placement at the MCLRC (Mariwa Community Learning and Resource Centre). A highlight of her trip: meeting President Obama's grandmother (pictured above)! Please see the link to the article to read more about her travels.

Shad alumni on Discovery Channel Quiz Show

Six Shad Valley alumni will be competing throughout July and into August on Discovery Channel's QUBIT quiz show, which premiered July 4. The show will utilize new holographic technology, the first trivia show of its kind to do so. 70+ Contestants must answer a series of questions to reach the next level, competing for the ultimate prize of $10,000.

Among the contestants are the following Shad alumni (in order of air dates*):

Janice Takata-Shewchuk, Shad 1981 St. Andrew's College, July 8
Robbie Zuk, Shad 2007 Trent University, July 8
Craig Kaplan, Shad 1989 UBC, July 15
Eric LaForest, Shad 1992 Université Sherbrooke, July 22
Kristen Hahn, Shad 2001 UBC, August 5
Jordan Graham, Shad 2007 Memorial, August 8

*Episodes typically air at 6pm ET Wednesday and Saturday

Read about each contestant and learn more about Qubit by clicking on their website: http://www.discoverychannel.ca/showpage.aspx?sid=14795

Shad Valley participants in Stratford news article

Three 2009 Shad participants are featured in the Stratford Beacon-Herald. To read the article, click here:
http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1593073

Three Shad Valley alumni receive prestigious Rhodes Scholarship

Congratulations to Shad Valley alumni Raed Joundi, Lisette Yorke, and Amol Verma who are recipients of a 2008 Rhodes Scholarship. All three will travel to Oxford in September to pursue their postgraduate studies. There are currently 21 Shad Valley alumni Rhodes scholars.

Raed, from Winnipeg Manitoba, attended Shad Valley at the University of Waterloo in 2003. Lisette, who attended Shad Valley at Carleton University in 2004, is from Hillside Boularderie in Nova Scotia. Amol, a 2001 Shad Valley Calgary alumnus, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Some interesting facts about Shad Valley’s Rhodes Scholars:

• 2008 marks the second year when three alumni were honoured in the same year (in 2001 three alumni were also honoured)
• There are currently 21 Rhodes Scholars in the Shad alumni community
• Visit the Shad Valley Rhodes Scholarship page to learn more about Shad’s alumni scholars

Eleven Canadian students are awarded a Rhodes Scholarship every year. The international award allows winners to study a postgraduate course full-time at Oxford University. Approximately 83 awards are offered per year across 15 countries, with the United States having the highest number of honourees at 32. Many notable individuals have received a Rhodes scholarship, including former American President Bill Clinton, Canadian commentator Rex Murphy, and Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams.

Please click here to read this news article on the Shad Valley site.

Alumna receives Weston Award; 2009 Participant among finalists

Shad Valley is delighted to congratulate young alumna Eden Full, who attended Shad Valley Trent in 2008, as the recipient of the 2009 Weston Youth Innovation Award. Eden has received the national prize for her solar panel invention Dynamic Photovoltaics.
Eden’s project won top honours for its creativity and real-world problem solving abilities. Dynamic Photovoltaics is a passive solar tracker that moves panels towards the sun using inexpensive, environmentally-safe materials commonly found in developing countries and elsewhere. The device maximizes the efficiency of solar panels by having them track the sun during the course of the day, and can be easily maintained and repaired with simple instructions.

Also among the finalists for this award is upcoming Shad Valley 2009 participant Albert Hu, who founded the Northern Secondary Robotic Innovation Team, and will attend Shad this summer at Carleton University.

The Weston Youth Innovation Award was established to encourage and recognize young Canadian innovators and part of the W. Garfield Weston commitment to education. To compete for this prestigious award, students from across Canada aged 14 to18 outlined how they have shown initiative and leadership to be agents of change in addressing a current issue they are passionate about.

Eden will be awarded her $2,000 prize at an upcoming event at the Ontario Science Centre. In addition, she will work with an Ontario Science Centre multimedia team to create a short animation showcasing her project to be displayed in the Weston Family Innovation Centre. Details of her project will be posted at www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/innovationaward/.

Six alumni receive Wendy’s scholarships

Shad Valley is delighted to congratulate six young alumni who were awarded the Wendy’s Classic Achiever® Scholarship. The scholarship recognizes Canadian high school students in their graduating year who have not only worked hard, but have also given back to their communities.

Every year, eight regional winners are chosen to receive the $5,000 scholarship and 20 students are awarded a $1,000 scholarship. The following Shad Valley students are Wendy’s Classic Achievers:

$5,000
Eden Full
Shad Valley Trent 2008
John G. Diefenbaker High School Calgary, AB

$5,000
Natasha Somani
Shad Valley Queen’s 2008
Western Canada High School Calgary, AB

$1,000
Jonathan Chan
Shad Valley Waterloo 2008
Cawthra Park Secondary School Mississauga, ON

$1,000
Eric Coomes
Shad Valley Memorial 2007
Appleby College Oakville, ON

$1,000
Emily Ennett
Shad Valley UNB 2008
St. Michael Catholic Secondary School Stratford, ON

$1,000
Faried Garas
Shad Valley UNB 2008
Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute Kitchener, ON

To learn more about the Wendy’s Classic Achiever® Scholarship, please click here.

Shad Valley featured in Alberta engineering publication

Shad Valley featured in Alberta engineering publication

Please click here to read the recent article featuring Shad Valley in the PEGG, Alberta's engineering publication.

Young alumnae receive Ontario Citizen award

Congratulations to Shad Valley alumnae Vivian Leung, UBC 2008, and Emily Ennett, UNB 2008, who have been named Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year by the Ontario Community Newspapers Association! The award recognizes inspiring individuals who not only see a need, but rise to the challenge and contribute their time and energy to making improvements.

In Ontario, 12 students received the award for making a difference in both their hometowns and in communities around the globe. This year, there were 117 nominations across the province!

Vivian, a student at Abbey Park High School in Oakville, is ‘an amazing and accomplished young woman,’ says her principal, Odette Bartnicki. Vivian has organized several successful initiatives at her high school to raise funds for causes she is passionate about such as Pencils for Kids and the Sichuan earthquake relief. This year alone she has volunteered for the St. John Ambulance, the Rotary Club, the Oakville Youth Advisory Committee and for Big Brothers and Sisters of Halton, to name a few. Vivian’s story was recently featured in the Oakville Beaver.

Emily, who is completing her final year at St. Michael Catholic Secondary School in Stratford, is passionate about many school and community causes, including supporting a food drive that was going to end, an adult community that needed a wheelchair van, and a new group forming at school to befriend special needs kids. Emily's drive and commitment has greatly influenced her high school. This year, Emily introduced a youth philanthropy program in which all grade 10 students will now compete.

There will be an awards ceremony for the Ontario Junior Citizen award on May 3 at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Shad Valley alumna honoured by the Public Policy Forum

The Public Policy Forum recently announced Shad Valley alumna Sara Ehrhardt, Waterloo 1996, as the recipient of their 2009 Young Leaders Award! The Young Leaders Award seeks to recognize an outstanding Canadian who shows leadership in civic discourse and public policy and who is at the beginning of their career.

Sara earned her Bachelor of Applied Sciences degree in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is a recent graduate of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She chose to pursue a career within government as a way to effect positive change and currently works as an Economist at Finance Canada. “Sara Ehrhardt epitomizes someone who believes in the power of government to drive change,” said David Mitchell, CEO of the Public Policy Forum.

The PPF also announced recipients of their Annual Testimonial Award, including Research in Motion’s Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. The 22nd Annual Testimonial Dinner Awards will be held on April 2, 2009 in Toronto. To view the complete press release, please click here.
To learn more about the event, please visit the following website.

Shad Valley alumna featured in Chatelaine Magazine

Shad Valley alumna Elaine Chong, UBC 1994, is featured in the March 2009 edition of Chatelaine magazine for her extraordinary work with the B.C. Ministry of Health.

Elaine studied at UBC, earning both her Honours BSc and PhD at the university. In 2008 she was recognized as a Future Leader by the Women’s Executive Network of Canada at their annual Top 100 Women in Canada gala. Her story was also seen in the Globe and Mail last November.

Elaine is certainly a Shad Valley alumna to watch as she strives to empower women’s health care. This summer will mark her fifteenth anniversary since attending Shad Valley. Congratulations to Elaine on her continued success!

The following story features Shad Valley alumna, Elaine Chong, in Chatelaine’s March 2009 edition as one of five women who are ‘Making a Change’ in health care:

Elaine Chong
Pharmacist and acting director at the B.C. Ministry of Health Services, 32, Vancouver

As a girl in Trail, B.C. – a small town where, she jokes, half the 40 Asian residents were relatives – Elaine Chong acted as an interpreter in the doctor’s office for her Chinese grandmothers. Like some other recent immigrants, they’d never learned to speak or read English, so it fell to their young granddaughter to assist with their medical care. Today, the Vancouver pharmacist (the first in her family to earn a university degree) is on a mission to help other immigrants get the health care they deserve.

Why her work matters so much:
Immigrant women are much less likely to have family doctors

than Canadian Born women are

While finishing her post-doctoral studies at the University of British Columbia, Chong worked with the Asian Women’s Health Clinic. Staffed by multilingual female doctors, the clinic screens for breast and cervical cancers – Asian women in B.C. suffer from the latter at almost four times the rate of white women. This is often due to a reluctance to undergo intimate exams, and though Chong is encouraged by women who “take charge of their health care in their own language and culture,” she worries about those “who are lost to the system.”

Now an acting director for the B.C. Ministry of Health Services, Chong works with a team of pharmacists who advise doctors about the best drug treatments for their patients. But her goals reflect her roots: “I think it’s so important for women to be educated about their medications and conditions, and to be empowered in their own health.”

Article by Elaine O’Connor, Chatelaine March 2009, p. 160

Shad Valley & Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Shad Valley was recently featured in a news release from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador:

Municipal Affairs
December 17, 2008

The following statement was issued by the Honourable Dianne Whalen, Minister of Municipal Affairs. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

Congratulations to Shad Valley Students on Recent Award

This summer, the Department of Municipal Affairs was honoured to provide a four-week summer internship to five students with the Shad Valley program.

...

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate two of our students - Alex Abbott and Ankur Ralhan – on recently being named RBC / Shad Valley Entrepreneurial Cup winners. This award acknowledges the innovative spirit, youthful exuberance and leadership skills of Shad Valley students. The competition is a showcase for entrepreneurship, science, engineering and technology and demonstrates what teams of bright students can create with a little opportunity and a lot of passion.

Read the full press release at http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2008/ma/1217n05.htm.

Springdale's Mike Rolfe earns national honours: Shad Valley 'great experience'

10/30/08

SPRINGDALE
WILLIAM CLARKE
nor'wester

Mike Rolfe has had a busy year. The 17-year-old grade 12 student at Indian River High has been kept busy by his love of sports, but his academics have also remained top-notch. This month he'll be hosting a hockey camp at the Springdale Stadium and this past summer he spent some time in Halifax and Kitchener-Waterloo for an important reason.

Mike was one of the students accepted into a competition for high-achieving students called Shad Valley. Not only did he participate, his team won the national honours against 12 other teams across the country.

"We all had to make a project and the project was to design with conscience and make something that will help others in the world," he said. "We won the national competition and best overall."

Read the full story from The Nor'wester at
http://www.thenorwester.ca/index.cfm?sid=185607&sc=354

Shad Valley Responds to Current Economic Concerns

Shad is keeping a close eye on the current economic climate and its potential impacts on the Shad Valley program. On careful consideration of Shad’s options, our Board of Directors and I concluded that it is prudent to take action immediately to reduce our scale and cost of operation rather than risk jeopardizing the sustainability of Shad Valley in the long term. For 2009, we’ve reduced the number of Shad Valley programs to 10 from 12. Shad Valley Trent and Shad Valley Calgary will not be offered in 2009. We have made a number of changes to our internal staffing and operations as well, to ensure we’re positioned for the challenges ahead.

Shad has the enormous responsibility each year of carefully managing the financial resources provided to us by our many partners, so that we can achieve our core mission of enhancing Canada’s innovation and entrepreneurial capacity. Our partners include our students, their parents, governments, corporations and our host universities. Although the tough decisions we have had to make are very painful for all members of the Shad community, we are committed to stewarding our resources to ensure that this great program will continue to thrive and be successful in executing its mission in the future.

Barry Bisson, President

Attention Shad Valley Alumni!

Would you like to share your Shad Valley experience with others? Do you know students who would benefit from Shad Valley? Would you like a chance to win a $2,500 university scholarship?

Then sign up to be an alumni ambassador!
Visit this link to find out more, or contact Melanie@shad.ca

We're counting on you to talk to students about Shad Valley!

Alumni Ambassadors are able to:

Visit local high schools to talk about Shad Valley!
Attend conferences and events on behalf of Shad Valley!
Have a chance to win a $2,500 university scholarship!

SIGN UP NOW!
Fill out the ambassador form: click here
You can also refer your friends to the Shad Valley 2009 application: click here
Learn more about the $2,500 university scholarship!

Prime Minister’s Award Winner Shares Teaching Talents at Shad Valley Program

*This article is featured in the Fall 2008 publication of Canadian Teacher Magazine

Many high school students consider June the best and worst month of the year. On the one hand, it’s warm and sunny and the long exhausting school year is drawing to a close. On the other hand, it’s warm and sunny and the long exhausting school year never seems to end quickly enough! By that time, university students are out of class, and not only are students’ feet off the academic gas pedal, they’re out of the car. There is one condolence though – teachers have to stay in school even longer. It’s no wonder students often assume that teachers, too, cannot wait for their glorious two months off and away from teaching. Of course, most students have never met Ian Fogarty.

At Riverview High School, Ian Fogarty spends ten months of the school year immersed in science, teaching grade 11 and grade 12 students chemistry and physics. While science is a discipline with curiosity and self-motivation at its core, it’s often difficult to get students excited about raisin bun atom models or solubility rules. Facing this challenge every day, Ian teaches the fundamental basis of his subjects with the hope that he can spark a passion for science in his students.

In 2006 while teaching at Riverview high, Ian’s childhood high school in New Brunswick, he was offered a position as a faculty member at a summer enrichment program called Shad Valley. As a Shad Valley Teaching Fellow, he was already encouraging students from his high school to attend the program, and his enthusiasm for the program was growing. “When I was first offered a place at Shad Valley, I knew immediately that this was not going to be like a typical month of school,” Ian recalls. “Shad Valley clicked with me: here was a place where students were challenged and immersed in ideas that most don’t encounter until their undergraduate studies! I saw a program for high school students that prepared them for real life.”

Happily, Ian accepted the spot at the Trent University Shad Valley campus in Peterborough, Ontario. There, he helped run the intense four-week science, technology, and engineering enrichment program that recruits approximately 630 bright students nation-wide every year. Ian found himself once again surrounded by high school students for the entire month of July – not a typical holiday, but he was eager to immerse himself in all things Shad.

“Shad Valley students are creative, passionate, and driven. Their days are filled to capacity with challenging and creative projects and the quality of work they produced truly surprised me. I have taught under the notion that every student out there has tremendous potential, and Shad proved to me that there is a place where this potential can be reached and harnessed.”
Ian Fogarty, Program Director, Shad Valley UNB

Shad Valley Trent is one of twelve universities that hosts the program every July. For the past 28 years, students from across Canada and across the world have taken part in this life-changing, mind expanding adventure. This past July, Ian returned to Shad Valley again, but this time in his native New Brunswick.

As a Program Co-Director at the University of New Brunswick Shad Valley campus, Ian was able draw on his own experiences to build a challenging program. After receiving both his Honours BSc and BEd from Mount Allison University, he earned his MSc in Organometallic Chemistry from New Mexico State University, where studies led him to work for a research team at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility.

While he may be perceived as a Chemistry-type Indiana Jones, he has also been an influence for teachers as well. This year Ian was honoured with one of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence. The award recognizes teachers by promoting their innovative and successful teaching practices. In addition, Ian has completed work in the field of chemistry, and was awarded New Brunswick’s Innovation in Education Award. He is also involved outside of the classroom with the Outdoor Challenge Program, for students who are eager to experience an adventure outdoors, including rock climbing, kayaking, and outdoor living. In addition, some of his former students credit Ian’s encouragement towards their academic pursuits in fields such as engineering and chemistry, yet another testament towards his passion for teaching.

Ian’s teaching approach has always been to provide a solid work ethic and to lead by example. “Success is directly proportional to effort,” he has said. At Shad Valley, students are given the chance to take on new challenges, to harness their creative capacity, and to act on their talents to improve innovation in Canada. It is for these, and many other reasons, that Shad Valley has been such an important step in Ian’s professional and personal career. Shad Valley President Barry Bisson explains “Ian is an extraordinary person with a talent for teaching and inspiring youth. His award in excellence is well-deserved and he has worked hard for his achievements.”

“I encourage students who want to learn and challenge themselves to apply for Shad Valley. I also encourage teachers to promote the program to their students – they could change a young person’s future simply by bringing up Shad. Shad is an excellent place for students to receive a competitive advantage,” says Ian.

Indeed, many educational and career institutions consider the Shad Valley program as an investment in a student’s future, and recognize the program when considering applicants for program admissions, scholarships and careers. Shad Valley has over 10,000 alumni, including 18 Rhodes Scholars, several Top 20 Under 20 and Top 40 Under 40 recipients, as well as countless award winners in various career and education fields.

“Shad was very lucky to have Ian as a Program Co-Director this year. He brings to Shad the expertise and drive that students benefit from greatly,” says Barry Bisson, President of Shad Valley.

For Ian, he intends to stay with the Shad Valley program for many years to come. “There is no place I would rather be in July than at Shad Valley,” he said. “I could be on a beach somewhere, but this is much more fun.”

You can learn more by visiting the Shad Valley website, http://www.shad.ca/ or by contacting info@shad.ca.

**

*This article is featured in the Fall 2008 publication of Canadian Teacher Magazine