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Four North Bay students to attend award winning SHAD this summer

'What you do is develop people who look at the world a different way. They become game changers'
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A record 801 high school students are looking forward to taking the summer off so they can take part in one of this country’s top incubators for youth innovation and entrepreneurship.

The students, including four from North Bay, will be participating in SHAD, the unique and award-winning Canadian enrichment program that has helped develop the raw skills and talents of close to 16,000 youth since 1980.

All four are grade 11 boys:

  • Xavier Prinja, Ecole Sec. Algonquin
  • Will Fraser, Chippewa SS North Bay      
  • Matthew McParland, St. Joseph-Scollard Hall
  • Marcus Hlady, Widdifield SS    

SHAD has helped produce 32 Rhodes Scholars in that time and many other leading innovators and entrepreneurs are part of the SHAD Network including Michele Romanow, a serial entrepreneur and television personality on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.

Three SHAD alumni -- or Fellows as they’re known -- are currently advising Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as part of his Government’s Youth Council including Simone Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh says SHAD introduced her for the first time to like-minded, similarly driven youth leaders and helped her see the impact she could have. She believes being part of the SHAD network and creating bonds that last a lifetime is more important than ever for the students and for the country.

A record 13 Canadian university campuses from coast to coast will play host to SHAD this summer including Ryerson University, the first program hosted in Toronto. Governor General David Johnston, who has made innovation one of his pillars, was on hand for the launch of the program at Ryerson in May.

“What you do is develop people who look at the world a different way. They become game changers. They know how to alter things for the better,” said the Governor General, adding, “It’s so important for the country that SHAD scale up and scale out.”