Being a leader and volunteer in the community usually starts young and often in the home and the classroom.
This is case for this year’s Leaders of Tomorrow award winners who have already racked up an impressive record of service in their schools, at local events and with foothills service groups.
Winners at the 20th annual Leadership Awards ceremony on April 15 were Tegan Donnely in the senior high school category; Amlika Nair in the junior high school category and Alyssa Gutowski and Ellie Kitchen in the elementary school category. The awards recognize students who display leadership and excel in a variety of fields, from sports, to arts to volunteering.
Donnely, a Grade 12 student at Holy Trinity Academy, said volunteering is a lifelong venture.
“It makes you feel good,” she said. “I love volunteering and I never want to stop. I definitely don’t plan on stopping community service any time soon.”
Her goal is to become a firefighter and giving back to the community is something that goes hand-in-hand with the job.
Both Donnely and fellow award winner Nair, a student at Westmount School, said their parents are positive role models leading them to volunteer and help their community.
“Definitely my parents are a big part of that, they’re always volunteering and that really inspires me as well,” said Nair.
She said there is a lot of opportunity to volunteer in Okotoks.
“It’s almost hard not to because there’s so many events going on and there’s so much help needed,” said Nair.
Gutowski, a St. Mary’s Elementary School Grade 6 student, said the award is positive encouragement to continue to lend a hand in her community.
“It just means that I do a lot to help others and I can do more,” she said.
Gutowski likes to work with animals so she volunteers at Heaven Can Wait in High River where she works with cats at the facility. She began volunteering at the animal shelter at her mother’s suggestion.
“I like helping out and since I have a lot of spare time, instead of watching a lot of TV or something I can use it helping others,” she said.
The evening’s youngest honoree shows being a leader can start with something as simple as helping a new friend adjust to life in a new school.
Kitchen, a Grade 1 student at Dr. Morris Gibson School, earned the award for her role as a leader in her class and taking a new classmate who doesn’t speak English under her wing to help her in school.
“I like helping the new girl, she’s my best friend in the whole class, she’s a good friend,” she said.
The school’s principal Kevin Newman said Kitchen is always ready to help out in her class and her efforts to help her new friend have made a difference to the student as she adjusts to life in the school.
“It’s those signs of leadership we want to promote with kids, so Ellie was a great example,” he said.
Kitchen and Gutowski’s volunteerism and work has even inspired one of their fellow leadership award winners.
Donnely said it’s great to see the elementary award winners becoming involved in the community at an early age.
“I’m so proud of them for stepping up and starting at that age, it’s really impressive,” she said. “They’re doing better than half the high school kids in my school.”
