TOYOTA CANADA - Earth Day Canada and The Toyota Canada Foundation recognized Navarana Smith of Canmore, Alberta as the 2012 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship National Award Winner in Calgary last week.
Navarana was selected from a group of 20 regional scholarship winners (listed below) who were chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants across Canada. She was recognized for her outstanding achievements in environmental community service, academics and extracurricular participation.
Navarana shared her ideas for sustainable practices (developed as a representative at the Jasper Summit on Sustainability) with teachers at local schools to incorporate environmental education into the curriculum. She led numerous campaigns, petitions and presentations in her school and organized a community film screening of the award-winning documentary, SPOIL. Her passion to protect pristine natural areas also motivated her to spearhead an initiative that addressed over 260 students in response to the proposed supertanker-related traffic through British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest.
"Navarana has worked hard at getting her community involved in improving the state of the environment," said Jed Goldberg, President of Earth Day Canada. "She is not only achieving great things now, Navarana is a shining example of youth who are leading the way for future environmental action."
"We are extremely honoured to recognize Navarana of this year's Toyota Earth Day Scholarship program," says Seiji Ichii, President & CEO, Toyota Canada Inc. "The tremendous work she already accomplished is incredibly inspiring, and we look forward to the great work the scholarship recipient will accomplish in the future."
Navarana received the National Award and a Panasonic notebook computer in addition to the $5 000 Regional Award at a ceremony held at the Calgary Farmers' Market
The Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program was established by Earth Day Canada, with financial support from the Toyota Canada Foundation, to reward and encourage environmental commitment and action among students. This entrance scholarship is presented to graduating high school and Cégep students entering their first year of post-secondary education. Recognizing that environmental issues are increasingly being tackled through multidisciplinary approaches, winners are selected regardless of their intended program of study. Now in its tenth year, $800 000 has been awarded to 160 exceptional young Canadians.
Atlantic
Lauren Basden - Halifax, Nova Scotia
Luke Ehler - Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Hayley Whelan - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Simon Lespérance - Jonquière, Quebec
Janie Masse–Dufresne - Val David, Quebec
Isabelle Neveu - Prévost, Quebec
Olivia Toussaint–Martin - Québec City, Quebec
Leehi Yona - Dollard des Ormeaux, Quebec
Pacific
Veronika Bylicki - Vancouver, British Columbia
Brian Irwin - West Vancouver, British Columbia
Liam Maclure - Victoria, British Columbia
Ontario
Laurissa Christie - Tara, Ontario
Matthew Green - Toronto, Ontario
Simon Harmgardt - Oakville, Ontario
Abigail Holt - London, Ontario
Sara Wyngaarden - Elmira, Ontario
Western
Genevieve Carpenter-Boesch - Gray, Saskatchewan
Nikita-Kiran Singh - Red Deer, Alberta
Darren Touch - Calgary, Alberta