Both the Garibaldi Highlands neighbourhood and the Garibaldi Village Shopping Centre were invaded by throngs of students on Sunday (May 19).
The group of 130 students weren't recovering after partying over the long weekend. Rather, they were selling bundles of handmade cards designed to raise money for the local Go Girls program run by Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Squamish.
The Sunday morning sale was just one small part of a busy weekend at the Global Issues Network (GIN) event at Quest University. It's the third time Quest has hosted a GIN conference and Keely Stott, the school's director of admissions, said it was the biggest and best one yet.
It was fantastic, she said. We had an incredibly inspiring conference and I think the students are all excited about going back to their high schools, take with them what they learned and share it with their schools.
Students from all over the province and as far away as South Africa arrived at Quest on Friday (May 17) and got settled into their dorms for a busy Saturday (May 18) and Sunday. Michael Furdyk, the co-founder of Taking It Global, was the keynote speaker on Saturday and after his presentation students had the chance to attend a number of other, smaller sessions.
Those attending got to choose from four different one-hour sessions on a topics ranging from the Quebec student movement to gender equality. Sunday's keynote speaker was Ann Marie McKenzie from Big Brothers Big Sisters in Squamish, a presentation highlighted by a trio of local youth sharing stories about just how much the Go Girls program has benefitted them.
Second-year Quest student Kate Hosford was one of three Quest students to participate as mentors in the Go Girls program. She's also a member of the GIN club at Quest.
I didn't know about GIN in high school, and decided to join the club at Quest. I've been more involved this year and always have been interested in global issues, Hosford said.
Hosford joined the Go Girls program as a mentor after noticing an advertisement calling for mentors in the Quest cafeteria. She said the experience has been rewarding. The group works with local girls once a week over an eight-week session and teaches the youth about healthy eating, exercise and hosts informative discussions on issues like body image and drugs and alcohol.
Every girl goes through things that we talk about, Hosford said. It's nice to have someone there to tell them about it and help them through the year. It's really just simple things. The girls love coming and have such a great time.
The association with Go Girls paid off in a big way for Hosford as her work with the group helped her attend a GIN conference in Costa Rica earlier this year.
Stott said the Go Girls group is a huge positive for Squamish.
What Ann Marie does with those girls is incredible, she said. I think the students learned, by selling the cards, that even in a couple of hours you can make a positive change in the community. It was a nice way for us to spread awareness of the program in Squamish.
Stott, who also helps run the local GIN club, explained that the club came to be after Quest founder David Strangway spoke at a GIN conference in 2006. A student attended that talk and was encouraged to enroll in Quest University after hearing Strangway speak. When that student arrived at Quest, she and Stott helped start the GIN club.
The conference will be back again next year and pointed out that all Howe Sound Secondary School students are encouraged to check out the free event in their own backyard.
For more information on GIN, visit www.global-issues-network.org.
Check out the past year's GIN -
