Grade 12 Innisfail Junior/Senior High School students Jessica Layden and Rael Blaine have been nominated for 2014 Alberta Citizenship awards.
The Alberta Citizenship Award is a provincial award given in recognition of graduating students who support and contribute to Alberta communities through public service and volunteer endeavours in school sponsored, community or extracurricular activities. One award is available for each high school in Alberta.
Both Blaine and Layden have served the Innisfail community in different ways.
Layden's musical talent has taken her to Nairobi, Kenya in addition to playing in the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre's Festival of Trees and the Kiwanis Music Festival, while Blaine has coached Grade 9 volleyball, tutored fellow students, and has been a health centre volunteer for a handful of years.
“I have played violin with the Red Deer Youth and Community Orchestra for almost 13 years,” said the 18-year-old Layden. “Our director, Antoinette Stuppard and her assistants Marcel Nakony and Louise Stuppard have helped me develop my musical skills over the years.”
Her music has allowed her to perform on the community stage at the popular Festival of Trees in Red Deer in addition to working with Better World out of Lacombe for four years through the funds she has raised.
“With Better World, I have gone to Nairobi to help build a second floor on a dormitory for young girls,” said Layden. “While in Kenya, we raised money to build a dormitory for young girls to escape being sold in marriage as well as having a place to stay while getting an education. We also built a maternity ward in a small village so pregnant mothers would not have to walk what I'm sure seems like a million miles to receive medical care.”
Her future plans after high school include going to either Mount Royal University where she has conditional acceptance, the University of Calgary or the University of Lethbridge.
“I like music. It is a huge part of my life,” said the 18-year-old. “It is such a good feeling when I am able to use music to help people around the world. I am healthy and able to help people experience the blessing we have in North America.”
She added that volunteering and giving back to the community is part of her belief system that she learned from her family.
“I want to keep giving back, and giving back generously as people have been generous with me,” added Layden. “Working with A Better World will be a lifetime pursuit for me.”
Rael Blaine's path of volunteerism has taken a different route.
“For me, citizenship is just being a person out there in the community doing what you are supposed to do,” said Blaine. “I have both coached and played volleyball, I have tutored students from Grade 3 to high school, am involved in 4-H and horses, and I have been a hospital volunteer for six years.”
Blaine has played volleyball for six years, last year coached junior high volleyball, and will return to Innisfail to help coach the senior team with Jeff Anderson.
“I like teaching volleyball skills to the girls whether it is passing, spiking or serving,” said Blaine. “My passion is teaching the girls to be better players and leaders on court. It will be a fantastic experience for me.”
She noted that at the hospital, she spent time with the seniors playing games with them and she really enjoyed working with the residents.
“Some of the seniors don't often get visitors and volunteers are a valuable part of their support system,” said Blaine.
The 18-year-old helps tutor fellow students in physics, mathematics and science.
“I have found that working with students who have trouble with science helps me learn as well,” added Blaine. “It forces me to verbalize what I know and to explain step by step how to solve problems. We both learn together.”
Blaine grew up watching her mother serve the community; first as a classroom parent helper, then as a willing participant and supporter of all their activities.
“After I graduate, I plan on taking a semester of upgrading at Red Deer College as I plan to go to the University of Alberta the next September to study engineering,” said Blaine.
She added she loves sharing with others, whether it is on the volleyball court, or in the halls of the hospital.
Vice-principal Narsh Ramrattan said the students were nominated for the award and voted on by their teachers.
Winners of the Premier's Citizenship Award will receive a plaque from the premier of Alberta, and will be eligible for a $2,005 Alberta Centennial Scholarship and a $5,000 Queen's Golden Jubilee Citizenship Medal award. The award will be presented in September.
