Youth Presenters Moving On to the Finals!

Congratulations Alana, Omar, Jason, Josipa, and Kimberly! This talented group of St. Martin Secondary School students won first place in their class’s YPI competition! In April, they will compete against the other YPI classroom winners for a $5,000 grant for their charity of choice: the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada! What is YPI? YPI, or Youth and Philanthropy Initiative, is the signature program of the Toskan Casale Foundation. It is an academic course for secondary school students that teaches young people research and presentation skills, and empowers them to authentically participate in the development of their communities. How does it work? Students form teams and work together to identify the social needs of their local community. Next, they research and analyze a number of local charities and select the one that they believe best addresses their chosen social issue.  After contacting their chosen charity and interviewing the charity staff, each team puts together a presentation that explains how a grant would help that charity to achieve its mission and better serve its clients. The team with the most compelling presentation in their class is chosen to go on and conduct a final presentation in front of their entire school and a judging panel. The team with the best presentation is awarded the YPI grant: $5000 for their chosen charity. What did Alana, Omar, Jason, Josipa and Kimberly have to say about their YPI experience? They gave it a rave review! Through YPI, they learned about numerous charities in their local community and the real difference that they make in peoples’ lives. They described their experience of putting together and delivering a presentation that reflected their groups’ values as fun, exciting, empowering and educational. Interest in getting involved in YPI? Visit the YPI website: http://www.goypi.org/ or contact YPI Canada at 1-888-489-1044 to find out if your school meets their requirements and learn how to apply to participate. The Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada thanks Alana, Omar, Jason, Jospia and Kimberly for their efforts to help the TSFC achieve its mission and wishes them the best of luck in the next stage of competition!