Honors for outstanding girl

Aboriginal high school students from across the country are among the winners of the 2006 Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation's excellence awards. The awards recognize outstanding students for their leadership skills, community involvement, academic achievement and interest in innovation.
"The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is very proud to salute the entrance award recipients and looks forward to celebrating their continued achievements", said Gerard Veilleux, chair of the Foundation's Board of Directors.
There are three levels of excellence awards: national ($5,000, renewable for up to three years, for a possible total of $20,000), provincial/territorial ($4,000, renewable for up to three years for a possible $16,000) and local (one-time award of $4,000). The awards will go towards the cost of studies at any Canadian university or college this fall.
"These students come from vastly different backgrounds, cultural influences and interests, but what they all have in common is the significant contribution they have already made to their communities and the potential to become some of Canada's premier community leaders," said Norman Riddell, the Foundation's executive director and chief executive officer.
Sinead Charbonneau is a Metis student, living in Medicine Hat. She is one of 100 students to receive a National Excellence Award.
She is described as an energetic and dedicated leader whose community service has focused on social justice and environmental issues. In 2004, while living in Victoria, she and the other members of Students for a Free Tibet Victoria organized a candlelight vigil at the legislature in support of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk facing a death sentence in China.
As a member of the Streamkeepers, she helped to organize an environmental awareness event that attracted more than 700 people and participated in the clean up of two polluted streambeds that were home to spawning salmon.
In recognition of her significant commitment to service, Charbonneau received a Volunteer Victoria Community Achievement Award.
She moved to Medicine Hat in 2005 and immersed herself in the life of her new school, creating Medicine Hat High School's first paper recycling program and becoming an active youth representative on the First Nations, Metis and Inuit Education Advisory Committee.
Charbonneau is particularly proud of her accomplishments as head of a local organizing committee to celebrate March 21­the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A complete performance was developed for this occasion.
One of the highlights was a "Racism Dance" that portrays the effects of learned racism from parents to children. The dance was performed by the Oskayak Teen Dance Troop (of which Charbonneau is a member).
Other activities included: traditional Aboriginal dancers, a new immigrant speaker from Zimbabwe and Metis jiggers (whom Charbonneau taught and performed with).
To make this a community celebration, organizers offered an encore presentation in the evening serving a traditional Aboriginal meal. More than 200 people attended this sold out performance. In addition to all of these duties, Charbonneau took on the role of emcee for both performances.
Charbonneau intends to pursue a career in international law with the dream of working towards relieving the plight of women everywhere. In the fall, she will enroll in the Humanities at the University of Victoria.