Local student selected for prestigious SHAD program

   A record 801 youth from across Canada will be attending SHAD, including St. Anthony’s grade 11 student Fatima Rehan.
   Attendees are immersed in an intense one month program focused on ‘STEAM’: science, technology, engineering, arts and math to help these students see and reach their full potential.
   Come July 2, Rehan will be flying to Waterloo, Ontario for a month of learning and experimentation.
   “I’m looking forward to it, I’m quite excited,” said Rehan.
   SHAD is a registered Canadian charity that empowers exceptional high school students – at a pivotal point in their education – to recognize their own capabilities and envision their extraordinary potential as tomorrow’s leaders and change makers.
   “They teach you stuff about economics and you live on campus,” said Rehan. “There is a lot of guest speakers and you’ll be meeting professors and new people. It’s also very focused on diversity.”               SHAD President and CEO Tim Jackson says SHAD 2017 students are in for the summer of their lives.
   “Past students rave about the program and how it transforms them,” said Jackson. “That’s why we’re trying to ensure SHAD is known and available to every eligible student across the country.”
   SHAD also offers bursaries to students with financial need and recently announced a partnership with Pathways to Education to help students from more marginalized communities attend the program. In order for a student to enter the prestigious program, you must first apply.
   “They look at your classes and your grades but they also focus on your volunteer work and those things, and on your personality as in you do sports and extracurricular activities – it’s a little bit of everything to get accepted,” said Rehan.
   Students are presented with a theme or social problem every summer which they learn at the beginning of the program. They have to devise an original product or service that addresses this real world, complex issue. In the process, they are taught how to build a business plan, marketing plan and working prototype and come away with an entrepreneurial mindset.
   Rehan was picked based on her valiant efforts in the community, specifically her school as a student council member, helping with Habitat for Humanity, and volunteering at the library. One of the most notable actions being her idea of having a multicultural day at school.
   “Well I do a lot of volunteer work and I’m really active in my school and my community and I’m just very interested in it,” said Rehan.
   Rehan is ecstatic to be attending the summer program and is proud to represent the valley in Ontario.
   “I’m very excited to go and represent our town and show people what we are about,” said Rehan.

Whirling disease found in Red Deer watershed

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has declared the Red Deer River Watershed infected with whirling disease.

While not harmful to humans, whirling disease can severely affect juvenile trout and whitefish populations. The declaration covers all streams, creeks, lakes, and rivers feeding into the Red Deer River, ending at the Saskatchewan border.

The CFIA’s announcement follows declarations of infection in the Bow and Oldman River watersheds. Whirling disease was first discovered in Banff National Park in September 2016.

The province recently announced $9.3 million to fund Alberta’s three-point whirling disease action plan. As part of that plan, the Government of Alberta opened a whirling disease laboratory in Vegreville, a unique facility dedicated to determining the extent of whirling disease. Additional staff have so been hired throughout the province as part of education and mitigation efforts.

New declarations of whirling disease are not necessarily evidence, the disease is currently spreading, but reason for increasing awareness of the need to clean, drain, and dry any equipment that comes into contact with water.

Impacts to wild trout and whitefish populations are significantly reduced when prevalence of the disease in the environment is low. Maintaining low prevalence of the disease where possible reduces the threat to wild trout populations. There are no plans to change fishing regulations at this point.

Areas in Alberta outside the Bow, Oldman, and Red Deer River watersheds were previously declared as a buffer area and are not affected by today’s declaration.

Whirling disease action plan

Alberta’s whirling disease action plan is focused on three pillars:

Detection and Delineation: Working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to determine the full extent of whirling disease. A whirling disease committee has been established to address the long-term management of the disease.
Education: Public engagement, work with stakeholders and posting of educational materials to prevent the spread of whirling disease. This includes the province’s Clean, Drain, Dry public awareness campaign.
Mitigation: Actions taken to prevent the spread, such as: CFIA permits to stock fish from the infected area to locations outside of the infected zone, as well as all Class A fish farms and provincial aquaculture facilities implementing approved biosecurity protocols and testing negative for whirling disease.

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Gran Fondo takes to road Saturday

   The Gran Fondo Badlands is back for its fourth season, and it is bringing along a special guest to the 2017 race.
   Rick Skeith, organizer of the annual bike trek through the valley tells the Mail, that Canadian cycling legend Alex Stieda will be its honoured guest. Stieda is the first North American cyclist to lead the Tour de France, and in the 1986 race, he wore the yellow jersey for one day.
   “He is a good ambassador for the cycling sport in Alberta. He does a lot of work with teens and youth in the Edmonton area,” said Skeith.
Stieda will speak the night before at the annual dinner and he act as the official starter on race day.
   Registration for the race on Saturday, June 24, which features a 50 kilometre (piccolo), 75, 100 and 140 kilometre (medio), and full 160 kilometre Fondo has been strong says Skeith, who expects about 650-700 riders on the course. This may be a down a little from previous years.
   “Last year we were at about 800, so we are in the ball park,” he said, adding the economy may play a role in the lowers numbers.
   “Also a lot of people have done this ride three years in a row, so they might want to take a break. I am getting lots of new people coming in from out of province, a lot of people coming in from B.C. and Ontario, and the local people sign up at the last minute after they see the weather forecast.”
   Most the details for this season’s race are much the same as last year. The will once again be holding the King and Queen of the Mountain combined hill climb challenges. There is great participation from local sponsors including McDonald’s and Tim Hortons of Drumheller. A favourite aid station on the course is at the Last Chance Saloon where they will be serving up bacon sandwiches.
   The Gran Fondo Badlands has once again teamed up the local Sea Cadets and with local youth who are taking on the Badlands to Banff Tour with Two-Wheel View.
   “They will be out in full force to volunteer again. We appreciate it, and we provide donations to their cause,” said Skeith.
   There is always a need for volunteers on race day. To register to help out on race day go to www.granfondobadlands.ca.
   Riders take to the course from the Badlands Community Facility at 8 a.m. for the Grand Fondo.

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Whirling disease action plan

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