Michelle Mo [莫亦非]
Old Scona Academic, Edmonton, AB
University of Toronto Scarborough Academic Award
A full International Baccalaureate diploma student and community leader, Michelle earned the highest marks in her class with an impressive 99.24% academic average. Michelle leads the Students’ Union, Math Team, and Chess Club. She was selected for the prestigious MIT Women’s Technology Program, during which she and a partner proposed, designed, and modeled an interactive anamorphic art installation under the guidance of Dr. Barbara Hughey.
Michelle strives to create opportunities for the younger generation, such as piloting a selective nonprofit math camp for underrepresented girls and an inter-school virtual chess tournament during the pandemic. An avid writer, Michelle has published her work in 3 anthologies and 4 magazines, and has won numerous accolades, including the Susan B. Greene Memorial Award and Starlight Award for Poetry.
Michelle participates in a variety of academic competitions, such as math, chess, chemistry, coding, debate, and the World Scholar’s Cup. Among countless awards and achievements, Michelle placed 58th out of over 1700 scholars at the 2019 World Scholar’s Cup Tournament of Champions. Michelle is a National Merit Scholarship Finalist and U of T National Scholarship Finalist.
Michelle is enrolled at Massachusetts Institution of Technology.
Kelsey Gee [朱詩淇]
R.A. McMath S.S., Richmond, B.C.
University of Toronto Scarborough Entrance Award
Although intelligence is highly valued in our society, Kelsey believes community involvement is equally worth commending. Community service shaped her character and perspective and allowed her to step out of her comfort zone as an introverted leader, to learn new skills, and to meet wonderful individuals.
Throughout high school, Kelsey participated in a number of school and community groups. She is most proud of her involvement with Richmond Hope For Hospitals (RHFH) which aims to raise awareness and funds for local hospitals through community initiatives. In 2021, COVID restrictions limited in-person contact, forcing their team to think outside the box and create new methods to support the community. Kelsey suggested hosting a student-made cookbook fundraiser.
After six months of hard work, RHFH produced a cookbook filled with beautifully hand-drawn food titled: From Our Kitchen To Yours. Over 140 cookbooks were sold, raising $1675 for Richmond Hospital Foundation. The Cookbook Project’s outstanding results prove how teamwork and a shared goal can turn ideas into reality.
Kelsey is enrolled at the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Management and International Business Co-Op.
Abigail Lim [林愷怡]
Gleneagle S.S., Coquitlam, BC
Chung-Kotcheff Family Arts Award
As an artist, Abigail hopes to capture different life stories through imagery where she could bring awareness about social-justice, politics, and relationships. Her journey toward an artistic career began in high school, where she studied graphic arts, photography, and digital filmmaking. She applied these skills when volunteering to design posters, social media posts, staging for events, the yearbook, the school play, and community projects in support of the homeless.
In January, Abigail volunteered to direct and produce Gleneagle Secondary’s virtual walkabout video that helped prospective Gleneagle students visualize the school’s architecture and surroundings. She also produced a short film nominated for the BC Student Film Festival about a high schooler who is leaving home to embark on her new life journey.
She has achieved a level 9 Royal Conservatory Music piano playing exam and she played flute in the school band. She also serves on the Westwood Alliance Church worship teams as a musician and performer. At the end of May, her photography will be on display as a representative of Gleneagle Secondary School, for the Morguard-Coquitlam Center Scholarship.
Abigail is studying Television & Video Production at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
Wendy Yang [朱詩淇]
Monarch Park C.I., Toronto, ON
Dorothy Lu Community Services Award
Wendy founded a math peer tutoring program for her peers, where she paired up dozens of students with peer tutors and made digital content for mathematics crash courses. Wendy is also a steering committee member of the school’s library. Since grade 9, she has been volunteering and taking part in the steering committee since grade 10 to contribute to the future of the library by initiating a book review contest. At Halloween, she was part of the team organizing the spooky story contest as well as the judging committee.
The Asian Studies is a youth-led non-profit organization where Asian students from around the world all have the mission to help other Asian youths. As an Asian activist, she writes articles for their Instagram page with 1,300+ followers. The topics she writes about are relevant to academics, world issues and personal growth. As director, she manages a team of writers, conducts interviews for recruitment and attends director meetings. She has made a difference in the lives of many Asian students with her articles about relevant topics, educating her online community.
Wendy has obtained 700+ volunteer hours as a peer leader to newcomer youths, a peer tutor in math and science, a summer camp counselor at various camps, and a City of Toronto youth council member at school open houses for incoming students, with the common goal of helping others.
Wendy is enrolled in Honors Mathematics and Business Administration at the University of Waterloo, jointly with Wilfred Laurier University.
Ezekiel Liu [劉宗民]
Bayview S.S., Richmond Hill, ON
Murphy & Chung Chartered Accountants Athletics Award
Ezekiel identifies as autistic and is a Special Olympics athlete in Speed Skating, Swimming and Track & Field. He started speed skating when he was 8 years old and qualified to participate in the Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games in Sault Ste Marie in 2019 where he won 2 Golds and 2 Silvers, becoming the youngest male speed skater to advance to the National Games. He was also the only Chinese speed skater on Team Ontario at the Special Olympics National Winter Games in Thunder Bay in February 2020, where he won Gold, Silver and two Bronze.
In Swimming and Track & Field, he participates in Special Olympics regional competitions and is aiming to qualify for the Provincial and National levels in those sports. He tries to motivate other people with disabilities to lead healthy lifestyles. For his 16th birthday last year, he collaborated with Autism Ontario and some corporate sponsors to create Fitness Kits, and he created a YouTube channel to show how people could use the items in their exercises. Last Fall, he raised more than double his fundraising target for CF24, an event for CrossFit gyms supporting Special Olympics Canada.
Ezekiel has represented Special Olympics in a variety of capacities such as York Region District School Board’s feature in their “Athletes of York Region” series, CTV’s special news feature during the National Winter Games, and a Special Olympics Ontario’s video feature. Ezekiel strives to be a positive role model and to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve significance and inspire others in spite of one’s disabilities.
Ezekiel is in grade 12 at the Bayview S.S.
Sophia (Siying) Zhu [朱思穎]
White Oaks S.S., Oakville, ON
Choi King and John C. Mah Memorial Innovation Award
Sophia hosts online networking events for streamers (content creators) on Twitch, a live-streaming platform. These weekly events were part of POG Networks (POG), a start-up she co-founded to help streamers connect and grow. This idea started when the pandemic hit. Using Twitch allows users to maintain their social life by connecting with online audiences.
POG was created in order to stream 50+ weekly 2.5-hour networking sessions. It started by introducing and pairing dozens of streamers within a niche. They’d then compete in virtual competitions or non-competitive socials, utilizing this time to chat and build friendships, while promoting themselves to new audiences. In addition to events, POG also built an online community of 250+ streamers from North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
Sophia created a website and grew their social media presence with testimonials and details about events, garnering 100+ unique monthly impressions. She also mentored two social media managers through weekly 1-on-1 meetings, growing their Instagram following from 63 followers to 200+ in two weeks. POG has grown dozens of channels, received several organic social media shoutouts, and won the “Closest to MVP”’ award from BETA Camp by surpassing ten other start-ups.
Sophia is enrolled in the Math/BBA double degree program at the University of Waterloo, jointly with Wilfrid Laurier University.
Miyuki Mori [森美雪]
Unionville H.S., Markham, ON
Maximilian Dignity of Life Award
Since the age of 11, after volunteering in a special education class, Miyuki has been passionate about disability justice, striving to fight against the stigma, discrimination, and lack of dignity those with physical and intellectual differences face. In 2018, she volunteered as a swim instructor for those with learning disabilities and was awarded the City of Markham Volunteer Recognition Award in 2019.
Miyuki won the grand prize at 1UPToronto’s 2021 Design Competition, where competitors redesigned Toronto’s Wychwood Barns Park to make it more accessible for disabled community members. In May of 2021 Miyuki co-led LIGHT Community Organization’s virtual social justice leadership conference, where she invited honourable speakers from Variety Village and Holland Bloorview Rehabilitation Hospital to share their experiences, and educate attendees on how to equitably work with disabled youth.
Miyuki registered a youth-led organization, Project 5K, to start Project Gifts for Good, a care package distribution mission to support homelessness in Toronto. She also gave back to the elderly community when she led the 2nd annual Project Valentine, collecting and distributing 2500+ handmade Valentine’s Cards to essential healthcare workers and seniors. She hopes to continue making impacts in other’s lives, and work towards fighting for dignity for marginalized communities.
Miyuki is enrolled in Bachelor of Media Studies & Master of Management Dual Degree Program at the University of British Columbia.
Rachel Dong [鄧永英]
Eric Hamber S.S., Vancouver, BC
Fay and John Wong Defence of the Environment Award
As Chair of the Vancouver School Board Sustainability Conference, Rachel wanted to increase environmental awareness and empower climate advocacy. She assembled a team of 40 students from the district’s 18 high schools and hosted seven mentor sessions with two full-day conferences that connected over 1,000 students and a network of 50+ mentors and community organizations. As Canada’s Top 25 Environmentalists Under 25, Rachel plans to continue fostering student leaders who are inspired to positively impact our community.
Rachel founded Kitchen-on-a-Mission in 2019 and coordinated an end-of-day food program with bakeries and homeless shelters across Vancouver. She organized volunteers to collect unsold goods to donate, and initiated an onboarding campaign that expanded the club from 15 to 100 members in one month, allowing an expansion one to five days per week. Over three years, Kitchen-on-a-Mission has diverted more than $40,000 worth of surplus food from going to waste, supporting food insecure populations in the Downtown Eastside.
“My passion for science inspired me to design an energy-generating wheelchair for paraplegics as a Finalist in the 2020 Vancouver District Science Fair. Ever since, I have been motivated to study environmental sciences at the University of British Columbia to spearhead innovative research and combat pressing climate issues. The Jean Lumb Scholarship will allow me to dedicate more funds to my studies and community involvement as I implement my values of inclusion and sustainability to champion climate action and meaningful youth engagement.”
Rachel is enrolled in Bachelor of Science at the University of British Columbia.
Caleb Lo [盧焯恒]
Milliken Mills H.S., Markham, ON
Leader of Tomorrow Award in Memory of Pam Lumb Collett
Caleb has worked towards positive impact leadership through advocacy, community service, and his passion with exponential technologies. At the age of 15, he co-founded an international educational non-profit organization named Global Bound Education (GBE) to create and send free educational packages to less fortunate students in underdeveloped communities whilst providing internship opportunities to students. Caleb has recruited 100+ high schoolers around the world to create and send 100+ packages, serving 300+ elementary students in 4 schools in Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania, partnering with influencers with over 60,000 followers and Study Stream, the world’s largest service platform.
In addition, Caleb served as the 2020-2021 STEM Without Boundaries Toronto Chapter President. He hosted a STEM Night for elementary students, organizing the event alongside guest speakers, the Canadian Science & Technology Museum, Engineering For Kids, and STEM nonprofits with 100+ participants. Caleb is currently a council member on The York
Region Presidents’ Council (YRPC).
Caleb joined a human accelerator program called TKS, where he promoted emerging technologies to research and create pitches, such as the intersection between fusion energy and water desalination, becoming a semi-finalist in an international Silicon Valley Hackathon to create a developer collaboration platform. He received a full-ride sponsorship to attend a conference in Miami, and consulted with XPrize, the world’s largest solution incentivizer, backed by Elon Musk, to address the problem of effectively assessing police reform for over 740,000 officers in the United States.
Caleb is in grade 12 at the Milliken Mills H.S.