The Citizen, 2019-08-15, Page 3THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2019. PAGE 3.
New for the closet
As Blyth’s Ella Sawchuk spent a month at the University of
New Brunswick as part of the Shad Canada program, there
was plenty to celebrate, including new t-shirts marking their
enrolment in the program. Sawchuk is seen here with some
of her project mates. From left: Amneet Deol, Kamryn
Janke, Sawchuk and Larissa Kouroukis. (Photo submitted)
Sawchuk returns from New Brunswick Shad program
Blyth’s Ella Sawchuk has just
returned home after a month in
Atlantic Canada with the Shad
Canada program, working on
environmental problem-solving at
the University of New Brunswick.
The program, which welcomes
gifted high school students to
universities around the country
annually, takes place in 17
participating Canadian universities.
It presents the students with a
problem and encourages them to
work together to develop a real-
world solution.
Sawchuk first heard about Shad
years ago, but it really began to
resonate with her during a lunchtime
presentation at F.E. Madill last year.
She applied to the program last fall
and when she received word that
she’d been accepted to the
prestigious program, she stayed up
really late that night so she could
greet her parents, Theo and Julie,
when they got home from being out.
In choosing a destination,
Sawchuk said she didn’t have a
particular university in mind, other
than that she wanted to leave
Ontario. Being so familiar with the
province and its schools, she wanted
to see another part of Canada, so her
top-five list was full of schools on
either coast of Canada. The
University of New Brunswick was
on that list, so she was happy when
she heard she’d be going out east.
The program began with ice-
breaking exercises meant to
familiarize participants with one
another. The Shad program seeks to
create a community of young
people, Sawchuk said, so it was a bit
daunting trying to learn the names
and stories of 80 participants, which
is why it took a few days.
The students were broken up into
groups and each group focused on
waste in a specific area, such as
industrial waste, plastics and water
waste. Sawchuk’s group focused on
waste in the textiles industry and
how it could be reduced.
The group’s work, Sawchuk said,
began with a lot of research. It was
important to understand the type of
waste that is being created in the
textile industry and how it can be
reduced or avoided altogether.
The research even took students to
the molecular composition of some
items, which is what eventually led
them to their solution.
Sawchuk’s group would
eventually find certain enzymes that
break down polyester clothing to its
basic elements. She said they created
a system that would do that and then
create a market to sell back the basic
elements for use elsewhere at a
price.
It was the journey to the
conclusion, however, that Sawchuk
found most interesting. Working
with students from different
backgrounds, each with a different
style of studying and problem-
solving, she said, was very eye-
opening.
There were disagreements and
full-fledged arguments at times, she
said, but the students all had respect
for one another and, in the end, they
were all geared towards one
common purpose.
She said that while each group
was paired with an instructor, they
were largely left to problem-solve on
their own. For all issues financial, an
economics professor from the
university was often on hand to help
the students out, but for the most
part they were left to their own
devices to work through their
challenge.
Over the course of her month in
New Brunswick, Sawchuk said the
group didn’t spend all of its time in a
classroom. They took regular days
out, exploring the Bay of Fundy
area, camping, hiking and day-
tripping to interesting corners of the
province.
It was a fantastic experience,
Sawchuk said, and would
recommend it to anyone seeking
further enrichment in their academic
life. Sawchuk said that what she
really took away from the
experience is the community of it.
Working together to solve a problem
with students from all over the
country, she said, was something
from which she learned a lot.
For more information on the Shad
program, visit its website at
www.shad.ca.
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Half-hearted Christianity!
(Horatius Bonar)
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will
be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money!”
Matthew 6:24
If you are a Christian, then be a consistent Christian!
Be a Christian every hour, in every place. Beware...
of half-hearted discipleship,
of compromise with evil,
of conformity to the world,
of trying to serve two masters,
of attempting to walk in both the narrow and the broad ways.
It is impossible!
Half-hearted Christianity will only end in misery!
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the way that
leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
A Grace Gem
Submitted by: Immanuel United Reformed Church,
Listowel, ON 519-291-1956
Meeting forthcoming
to address concerns
Continued from page 1
number of Elizabeth Street residents
have had their driveways blocked by
Four Winds guests or that people
have parked on lawns along the
street and the residents have no
recourse.
“As a community, we do feel it is
important to point out that these
concerns have not just started. We
wanted to be open-minded and not
complain right away when they were
just starting out, however, the first
event at this venue took place almost
a year and a half ago and we have
not seen any improvement since
then,” the Stephensons said in their
letter. “We feel that by now some
steps should have been taken to
rectify these issues. It should be
noted that the vast majority of our
neighbourhood was here before
construction of the barn started and
we feel it is unfair that our lifestyles
must change because of a business
opening near us.”
After the presentation, council
acknowledged the validity of their
concerns and decided to arrange a
meeting to discuss options for
consideration to provide a solution
to the concerns raised.
Into nature
While the Shad Canada program is highly regarded across the country, it’s not all about
problem-solving and book work. The students were able to get out into nature and further
explore their surroundings while at the University of New Brunswick with camping, hiking and
other exploratory excursions. Here, Blyth’s Ella Sawchuk, left, is pictured at the Irving Nature
Park in Saint John, New Brunswick with members of her project team. When the team wasn’t
out exploring, they were working on a method to reduce waste in the textile industry. (Photo
submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen