Our annual event recently took place and was hosted by John Ross Robertson PS. Chris Rzepa, the principal, welcomed us and our guests to a wonderful evening of food, cheer, insight, education, inspiration, song and cheer.
It is always a night to thank our sponsors for their generous support and to showcase the many talents of our incredible students. If we can’t bring our sponsors directly into the classroom, then we’ll bring the classroom directly to our sponsors.
This year proved to be another stellar event. Choosing the variety of students to represent the year’s projects is never an easy task, and this year’s representatives truly shined. The pride and knowledge that they shared about their chosen causes touched everyone in the room.
Another highlight of the evening is the presentation of our now annual, Joey Award. This award is given to a former Project Give Back student who has demonstrated exceptional skills in empathy, generosity and leadership. This year there were two worthy recipients – Skylar Banks and Paige Zaldin. We couldn’t have chosen two more exceptional candidates to examplify what our program strives to acheive. We have no doubt that these two dynamic young leaders will continue to make our world a much better place as they grow and flourish.
The evening was capped off with yet another special treat. The audience was privy to the exclusive premiere of the song and video for, I Rise Above. While the song was created in honour of Jacob Schwartz’s 20th birthday, its message captures the true spirit of Project Give Back itself. The song was performed by an array of teens, many of them, former PGB students themselves.
In all, it is always our intent, that this evening leaves everyone with a sense of warmth and fulfillment. While we can never truly capture the magic that is created in each classroom, this evening proves to be the next best thing. And if this year our guests left for the night humming a special tune, even better!
