Gifted West Island youth celebrated

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

The Hilton Montreal Airport Hotel in Dorval was full of some very proud parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends last Thursday evening for The Chronicle’s Eighth Annual Young Achievers Gala. Since 2000, this initiative has been recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of youth from our community and has awarded $100,000 in prizes.

This year, with the help of two major sponsors – Pfizer and Scotiabank – the Young Achievers program recognized 40 exceptional young people between 10 and 16 years old, who all received a game set and a book entitled Winning: A Celebration of Paralympic Sport in Canada, both donated by Pfizer. The top winners in the four age categories also received $2,000 for their accomplishments.

This year’s judges had a tough job ahead of them: Judy Gill, Mark Uchwat, Erich Schmedt and Deborah Burton-Smith, lead by young Achievers Chief Justice George Springate, carefully reviewed the over 100 submissions to choose the winners. High grades, musical talent, impressive athletic skills, inspiring fundraising efforts, and motivated minds were just some of the achievements that topped the list. The judges narrowed their choices down to 40 finalists split up into four age categories. The four winners in each group were:

- Age 10 to 11: Jing Eng-Michell (first), Lauren Ravazzano (second), Isabelle Brathwaite (third) and Christopher Ciafro (fourth);

- Age 12 to 13: Laryssa Bezpalok (first), Rachel Ravazzaon (second), Michelle Elvidge (third) and Leung Eng-Michell (fourth);

- Age 14 to 16: Melisa Gudzio (first), Teresa Esmezyan (second), Amelia Page (third) and Ming eng-Michell (fourth)

- Age 16: Lisa Ruth Julie Hanash (first), Trina Bird (second), Shauna Overbury (third) and Morgan Burke (fourth).

The awards were given out during the well-attended gala evening, which was hosted by CTV Montreal reporters Caroline van Vlaardingen and Rob Lurie. The finalists and winners were called up to the stage to receive their plaques, trophies and prizes to the enthusiastic applause of their families and friends, sponsors and advertisers, and The Chronicle and Transcontinental Media staff.

This year was The Chronicle’s Sales Manager Nancy Macdonald’s first time directly involved in co-ordinating the project.

“Over the past years I’ve only been exposed to it as a reader,” she said. “This year, it was really nice to see how everything unfolded. I really got chills from reading about these young people.”

To read more about these 40 young, gifted West Islanders, make sure to check out the Young Achievers 2007 booklet included with this week’s issue. There will also be more photos from last Thursday’s gala event in the next edition of The Chronicle on Nov. 28.

Editor's note: While young achiever Aline Rolland has played with the Lindsay Place school orchestra in the past, she is not currently a member as stated in the Young Achievers 2007 booklet. The Chronicle regrets the error.