2017/2018 TD Scholarship Winners

Amanda Adam
St Mildred’s-Lightbourn School
Oakville, ON

Amanda spent her high school years changing stereotypes. She began her school’s first mental health club, founding a Jack.org chapter, to reduce stigma around mental illness. She hosted events to engage students and create a safe space for struggling youth. As a member of an all-girls robotics team, Amanda challenged attitudes in the male-dominated STEMR sector, encouraging girls to pursue interests in science, technology, engineering, math and robotics. By leading her school STEMR council as the STEMR Prefect, Amanda mentored girls and advocated to reduce the gender gap in the scientific community. Amanda would like to become an engineer, lawyer or entrepreneur.

Abigail Bonnington
Annapolis West Education Centre
Granville Ferry, NS

Inspired by the volunteer spirit of her parents and the Annapolis Royal community, Abigail co-founded a social issues club at school and embarked on fundraisers such as annual ‘Get the Goat’ campaigns, to purchase goats through Plan Canada, and a ‘Fast for Food’ event, in which youth fasted for 30 hours to support a food bank. Each successful event prompted Abigail to take on new causes and her club grew from two to 50 members. She was also active in Student Council, school band and drama, was a church youth leader, and was a member of the Annapolis Royal Space Agency and Royal Robotics team. Abigail would like to study environmental engineering.

Hayden Cheung
St. Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School
Richmond Hill, ON

Having watched his immigrant parents work night and day, Hayden founded Youth Nation Alliance to provide youth-to-youth support services to new immigrant students. His team provided peer mentoring to more than 1,000 youth, including volunteer matching, translations and social outings. Also committed to Canada’s history, Hayden joined the Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network to support the Nipissing First Nations community. He and his friends created the CONNECT App to join isolated Indigenous youth through a virtual drop-in program to find physical activities and recreation sports wherever they live. Hayden may pursue a career in human rights or immigration law, social work or international relations.

Ivan Chiang
Burnaby Mountain Secondary School
Burnaby, BC

Refusing to ignore the homeless members of his community, Ivan founded The Hot Potato Initiative, a youth-led movement to overcome the indifference of everyday citizens. Looking beyond superficial ‘band-aid solutions’, he led a team of 50 students in creating a media campaign around the biographical stories of real people living on the streets, to inspire empathy and destigmatize homelessness. His project engaged over 50,000 Canadians through social media. Ivan also participated in Burnaby's Seniors & Technology program, teaching senior citizens to use electronic devices. He hopes to study business or international development.

Bronwyn Clifton
St Pius X High School
Ottawa, ON

After Bronwyn watched a loved-one struggle with their identity, she formed her school’s first gay straight alliance. To make the group inclusive of anyone who felt they did not belong, regardless of sexual orientation, she named the club HUGS (Humans Understanding Gender and Sexuality). They held school-wide events including presentations on bullying, lobbied for a gender-neutral bathroom and fundraised for a local community centre for LGBTQ+ youth. Bronwyn also headed her school’s Peer Helpers program for new students, took part in Ontario Youth Parliament and volunteered at church camps. Bronwyn would like to be a developmental psychologist, teacher or youth counsellor.

Justen Di Ruscio
Leo Hayes High School
Penniac, NB

From a young age, Justen loved science, electronics and engineering but struggled to find ways to explore these interests. Inspired by his school Science Club, he convinced the Fredericton Makerspace social enterprise to pilot an after-school science program, which expanded to offer city-wide competitions and a regular 'STEM @ The Ville’ for youth. Justen also helped create a solar passive greenhouse and indoor urban agricultural room at The Ville Co-operative, to test innovative growing techniques. His other volunteer work included community climbing wall instructor and in-school math and physics tutor. Justen wants to be an embedded systems designer or electronics hardware engineer, potentially in his own company.

Charlotte Durnford-Dionne
Marianopolis College
Westmount, PQ

While volunteering at the Tyndale-St. Georges Community Centre, Charlotte saw how some youth were not interested in sports-focused programing. She co-founded an after-school art activity for children age six through 12, after fundraising from local businesses to acquire supplies. Enlisting volunteers to help children from underprivileged backgrounds unlock their artistic selves – including artwork for cancer patients – the group became a continuous program at the centre. Charlotte also helped lead an inclusive running club and an intersectional feminist club at her school. She is interested in a career as a documentary film-maker or creative director for a non-governmental organization.

Jenna Harris
Cawthra Park Secondary School
Mississauga, ON

Jenna co-created her school’s first Black Students Association after she organized a meeting to learn about her classmates’ experiences and struggles with prejudice. The club helped students discuss their challenges, raise issues with school administration and celebrate black culture, through events like black history presentations by guest speakers. By recruiting younger student members, the group will continue once Jenna graduates. She was also involved in student council, tutored peers in math and science and danced in her school urban dance club and at the Collective of Black Artists. Jenna plans to study biomedical or electrical engineering.

Daniyal Kashif
R.S. McLaughlin Secondary School
Oshawa, ON

When his family emigrated to Canada from Pakistan, Daniyal felt ostracized by others since he was the only Muslim child in a school with no South Asian presence. To offer respect, kindness and friendship to other youth, in grade 10 Daniyal founded a Multicultural Committee. The group grew into his school’s largest club by welcoming students of all ethnicities and raising cultural awareness through fundraisers, multicultural food buffets and activities like the Abolish Hatred Poster Competition. He also served on his school Athletic Council and Reach for the Top team and played sports like ultimate frisbee. Daniyal hopes to study health sciences or biochemistry on the road to a career in medicine.

Jasmine Lee
R.E. Mountain Secondary School
Langley, BC

Environmentally-minded Jasmine saw how aquaponics – cultivating aquatic animals and plants in a symbiotic environment – could reduce global famine. After testing a backyard aquaponics system, she convinced school officials to let her build a unit in the commons, to teach students sustainable farming and donate the weekly harvest to a soup kitchen. As President of the school Sustainability Corps, she inspired other young environmentalists to create a school greenhouse and expand aquaponics to other schools. Jasmine served on her Member of Parliament’s Youth Council and volunteered at a camp for bereaved children. She would like to study engineering and architecture.

Matthew Linehan
Nepean High School
Ottawa, ON

Having experienced significant pollution when he lived in Asia, Matthew committed to creating a cleaner, healthier planet. After returning to Canada, he established a high school environment club to raise awareness and introduce solutions, such as composting school food waste. He travelled to the Arctic with Students on Ice to learn about climate change from Inuit elders and shared his knowledge on the Ontario Nature Youth Council, lobbying government on climate change issues. While planning environmental awareness events for the David Suzuki Foundation’s Blue Dot program, Matthew was active in many sports including hockey, karate and track. Matthew plans to study environmental engineering.

Jack Mogus
Garth Webb Secondary School
Oakville, ON

With his love of sports, Jack realized how many Indigenous children could not enjoy these healthy, positive activities since they could not access sports equipment. He collected used sports gear at his elementary school and shipped it to remote Indigenous communities. He later founded Change By Youth and donated 2,500 skates and hockey equipment to kids in need while providing volunteer opportunities to 300 youth. He has also led 22 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanups to educate the public about protecting waterways. Jack was active in his school science fair club, trained in Taekwondo and helped lead the Oakville Leo Club. He is interested in a career as a researcher or scientific product or biotechnology developer.

Rickesh Mysuria
Cariboo Hill Secondary School
Burnaby, BC

Rickesh experienced firsthand how lack of economic means can exclude youth from community activities, so he pledged to improve social inclusion for low-income children. Inspired to study STEM subjects by an elementary school teacher, Rickesh established Mind Blown, an after-school science program in which high school volunteers offer weekly science lessons in two elementary schools. He volunteered with the homeless, on the Burnaby Task Force on Homelessness and the Indo-Africa Charitable Society, and co-founded Children’s Birthday Miracles, to throw monthly celebrations for children from homeless families. Rickesh is considering a career as a math and science teacher or a computer engineer.

Anne Xuan-Lan Nguyen
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Montreal, PQ

To help underprivileged youth experience culture and broaden their perspectives, Anne founded De-l’Air-Frais pour-un-Sourire-Vrai (Fresh Air for a Real Smile). With 15 volunteers, the group ran children’s excursions such as snowshoeing and art gallery visits. She encouraged other youth leaders in diverse projects and sports, from flag-football teams to Giive, a student-run organization focused on reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Anne represented youth at both Montreal City Council and on the Canadian Commission of UNESCO Youth Building Peace series. She also wrote for several youth publications to counter prejudice. Anne seeks a career in community engagement through social justice or medicine.

Zeel Patel
Western Canada High School
Calgary, AB

After seeing a patient succumb to leukemia at the Alberta Children’s Hospital where he volunteered, Zeel decided to help biomedical researchers study new ways to diagnose and treat blood diseases. When he presented his findings at a Canada-wide science fair, he realized how other youth wanted to support scientific research. Zeel created OmniScientific to connect youth with university professors and laboratory research internships in medicine, physics and chemistry. The non-profit organization offered research opportunities to 27 students in five cities. Zeel also organized a biomedical conference called Operation Med School to fundraise for Doctors without Borders and show young people how they can contribute to medical innovation. Zeel is interested in a future as a biomedical sciences researcher or social entrepreneur.

Luk Pham
Britannia Secondary School
Vancouver, BC

Knowing that families struggle to afford food and after-school care in his neighbourhood, Luk took action to help, and be a positive influence on disadvantaged youth. He co-founded Cook it Up, so grade 4 to 7 students could learn cooking skills from a professional chef. Luk was also a Link Crew leader, helping grade 8 students transition to high school through mentoring and social events. As Officials’ Club President, he encouraged students to volunteer as sports scorekeepers, to participate in positive pastimes, gain employable skills and enable scheduled sports to continue in his community. Luk’s career interests include accounting, marketing and graphic design.

Stephanie Simpson
Bloor Collegiate Institute
North York, ON

With a strong sense of empathy for the homeless, Stephanie began raising funds to prepare Christmas gifts for local homeless persons. She started the Off the Streets group at her high school to involve fellow students in fundraising and awareness events and volunteering trips to shelters. By doing so, she has empowered many peers to develop their own leadership skills and community mindedness. Stephanie co-led her school Model United Nations team and was involved in her debate team and student tutoring. She would like to study political science, towards a career in the public service, education or international development.

Shophika Suntharesasarma
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Montreal, PQ

With her interest in vegetarianism, Shophika became involved in the Collège Jean-Eudes Ecology Committee, leading awareness kiosks about water and food waste. She enlisted students in clean-up activities, started recycling and composting programs and lobbied school officials to create a green roof for urban agriculture. Today, it has become a student-run garden that grows and produces teas, pesto and fresh vegetables. At her CEGEP, Shophika helped lead the environmental committee and cooperative association while she volunteered with senior citizens and hosted a weekly radio show in her native Tamil language. Shophika would like to study mathematics, possibly leading to a career as a high school teacher.

Natasha Vatcher
Oromocto High School
Oromocto, NB

Natasha led many projects to build stronger connections among community members. She applied her love of knitting to start a hat-knitting campaign, with volunteers producing more than 200 warm hats for the Fredericton Homeless Shelter. She volunteered at a seniors’ home, the library and an elementary school activity program, while spending her summers offering swimming lessons to special needs’ kids and tending a vegetable garden for the Oromocto Food Bank. To inspire other girls to become leaders, Natasha was active on the WOW (Women’s Only Wellness) peer program and on the MP Youth Council to encourage young women to exercise. Natasha wants to study biochemistry towards a career as a doctor, orthopedic surgeon or biomedical engineer.

Avery Young-Lee
Bert Fox Community High School
Wolseley, SK

After observing how many of her fellow students put their health at risk by skipping meals, Avery revived the early morning Breakfast Club at her school. While providing busy students, parents and staff with access to a free or affordable hot meal, the program teaches young people about healthy diets, helps classmates earn volunteer experience and supports local businesses and farms. She also volunteered on student leadership council, sang in the choir, was active in recreational sport programs and assisted at a daycare centre. Avery wants to study science towards a career as a pharmacist, pediatrician or veterinarian.