From January to May, as part of the My Canada Project, Grade 8 students from across the WRDSB were invited to submit an essay on what they loved about Canada, what makes them proud to be Canadian, and how our country can do better. It was an opportunity for our young learners to reflect on what Canada means to them as they begin to make decisions about their future learning journey and life choices.

We are excited to announce the three winners of this writing contest. We congratulate WRDSB students Jocelyn Dunnette from Laurelwood Public School, Klara Stjarne from Centennial (Waterloo) Public School, and Matthew Hergott from Margaret Avenue Public School for being the inaugural winners of this project.

“The quality and content of these entries brought me to my knees,” says Lorna Hundt, CEO of Great Canadian Holidays, and one of the adjudicators. “I have been inspired and encouraged by the young people who are going to lead our country into the future.”

Each winner will receive their prize in a physically distant ceremony on Friday, July 3, along with a donation to their school’s Nutrition for Learning program. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the My Canada Project for providing our students with this amazing opportunity and for their support of Nutrition For Learning.

We want to thank adjudicators WRDSB Chairperson Jayne Herring, City of Kitchener Mayor Vrbanovic, City of Waterloo Mayor Jaworsky, and Lorna Hundt for their commitment and time to reading the submissions.

To all our Grade 8 students who submitted an entry: thank you! We are grateful for your interest and participation. It is never easy selecting three winners when all the submissions are insightful and inspiring!

Please take a moment to listen to their winning submissions.

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