Awards Ceremony of Peel Art and Essay Contest 2014

The finalist posters and essays of Peel Art and Essay Contest 2014 were recognized during the contest’s awards ceremony on February 18^th, 2015 at the Mississauga Convention Centre. With its theme “Volunteers – Heroes among Us”, the contest was dedicated to the 40th Anniversary of Peel Region which was celebrated in 2014. It aimed to motivate students to reflect on topics around volunteerism, e.g. altruism, civic engagement, community service and responsible citizenship. A number of organizations in Peel region, e.g. Region of Peel, Peel Children’s Aid Society, Peel Regional Police, Art Gallery of Mississauga and Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre supported Peel Art and Essay Contest 2014 as its community sponsors.

Peel Art and Essay Contest is an annual collaborative venture of Intercultural Dialogue Institute GTA, Peel District School Board and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. It provides youth with a unique opportunity to express their ideas on the topic through writing and art. It is expected to make a positive impact in preparing youth to be empathetic and responsible citizens of their communities and the globe.

Around 150 attendees including finalists, their family members and teachers, school board representatives and many distinguished leaders of Peel Region attended the ceremony on February 18^th, 2015. The event was a great excitement for the students and their families as no one knew the winners before they were announced during the ceremony. Awards were presented by Allan Thompson, Mayor of Caledon; Janice Baker, Manager and CAO of Mississauga; Sheila McWatters, Associate Director of Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board; Janet McDougald, Chair of Peel District School Board; Sunanne Nurse, Vice Chair of Peel District School Board and MPP Jagmeet Singh. Top three students in each category (art and essay) received laptops (1^st place), tablets (2^nd place), Wacom Bamboo (3^rd place art) and Kindle tablets (3^rd place essay) from the organizers of the contest. All finalists received special certificates presented by Jagmeet Singh. Frank Dale, Chair of Peel Region and Janet McDougald, Chair of Peel District School Board offered opening remarks whereas Shelley White, President and CEO of the United Way of Peel Region made the keynote speech of the evening.

The IDI GTA team extends its heartfelt congratulations to all finalists and its sincere gratitude to all individuals and organizations that supported the contest in different ways.

Click here for the Mississauga News coverage of the ceremony

List of winners and finalists:

Click on students’ names to see their posters or essays.

Art Category

Place	Student Name	School	Grade	School Board
1st	Caryl Chua	Father Michael Goetz Catholic SS	11	DPCDSB
2nd	Ashly Batista	Lorne Park SS	10	PDSB
3rd	Lorna Wong	Fletcher’s Meadow SS	10	PDSB
Finalists	Liane Werdina	Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic SS	11	DPCDSB
Finalists	Mahma Azhar	Father Michael Goetz Catholic SS	10	DPCDSB
Finalists	Danielle Casas	Cardinal Leger Catholic SS	12	DPCDSB
Finalists	Jessica Tang	Cawthra Park SS	11	PDSB
Finalists	Kendra Mio	Cawthra Park SS	12	PDSB
Finalists	Tiyana Bucknor	Fletcher’s Meadow SS	11	PDSB
Finalists	Julie Nguyen	Fletcher’s Meadow SS	10	PDSB

Essay Category

Place	Student Name	School	Grade	School Board
1st	Anujan Raveenthiran	Turner Fenton SS	12	PDSB
2nd	Nancy Ros	Louise Arbour SS	9	PDSB
3rd	Abhishek Sai Moturu	Philip Pocock Catholic SS	12	DPCDSB
Finalist	Harmiksha Patel	Turner Fenton SS	10	PDSB
Finalist	Jasmeet Saggi	Louise Arbour SS	9	PDSB
Finalist	Puneet Jangla	Louise Arbour SS	9	PDSB
Finalist	Kimberly Mohabir	Louise Arbour SS	9	PDSB
Finalist	Sabrina Bapoo	Louise Arbour SS	9	PDSB
Finalist	Cathleen Dhaliwal	Louise Arbour SS	9	PDSB
Finalist	Ayodele Sanni	St. Marguerite d’Youville Catholic SS	12	DPCDSB