Acton District High School students take home top prize at Halton Region's Be a Hero awards ceremony

High school students and residents from across Halton Region gathered together on Thursday, November 18 at a special awards ceremony in Georgetown to honour the winners of Halton Region’s fourth annual Be a Hero. Be a Voice for Affordable Housing contest. The grade 12 Design Technology Class from Acton District High School took home the gold award of $1000 for their design of a modular affordable housing development. The winning team consists of Loren German, Dylan Jubinville, Kevin Lawrence, Scott Olsen, Angelo Meogrossi, Trent Regular, Bailey Rolfe, and Jesse Voelkner.

“A great amount of detail and creativity has been demonstrated by each of the student submissions,” said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “This contest gives Halton’s youth an opportunity to look closely at the issue of affordable housing in their community and understand the vital role it plays in building a healthy and sustainable community.”

Created to help raise awareness about the need for more affordable housing in Halton, the Be a Hero contest was open to Halton students in grades nine through 12. Students were invited to develop an entry using their choice of format, such as video, song, or poetry that best captures why Halton needs more affordable housing. The students were provided with real-life scenarios to aid in the development of their submissions. Each year, the awards ceremony for the contest is held in November to help mark National Housing day (November 22).

Caitlyn Moses from Georgetown District High School received the silver award of $500 for her three-dimensional art entitled “Welcome to My Reality”. Four bronze awards of $100 each were also handed out to: the team of Colin Brecknock, Kim Maunder, Ryan Monday, and Tom Redfearn from M.M. Robinson High School in Burlington; Alexander Shaviri from St. Ignatius of Loyola High School in Oakville; Jaden Dales and Stephanie Wetherald from Abbey Park High School in Oakville; and Evelyn Elgie from Georgetown District High School.

Lia Grimanis, a successful business woman and founder of Up With Women, was the keynote speaker at the ceremony. Once homeless herself, Lia shared stories with the students about her experiences and her work to help homeless woman and children rebuild their lives.

This year’s contest is sponsored by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada. All of the winning entries from the 2010 Be a Hero contest can be viewed at www.halton.ca/beahero.

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