Wallaceburg student wins prestigious award

Raymond Yang
Raymond Yang

Wallaceburg District Secondary School student Raymond Yang has captured a prestigious national Vimy Pilgrimage Award.

Out of hundreds of applicants from across the country, Raymond, 17, was selected to participate in the Vimy Foundation program, which recognizes the actions of young people who demonstrate outstanding service, positive contributions, and leadership in their communities.

Raymond has dedicated himself to championing mental health awareness and empowering student youth.

Raymond has served on the Youth Committee of United Way the past four years, being involved in youth camps, drug awareness campaigns and fundraising for institutions such as the Heart & Stroke Foundation and the Terry Fox Foundation.

A recipient of the Principal’s Award for Student Leadership, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award and the Ubuntu Award, Raymond has also recently attended SHAD Valley, a STEAM conference that encouraged his faith in the strength and resiliency of diversity.

The Vimy Pilgrimage Award consists of a fully funded, week-long educational program in France and Belgium to study Canada’s tremendous First World War effort.

Scheduled for April 7-16, 2017, the program will include interactive education and visits to significant First World War battlefields, cemeteries, and memorials including the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

The 2017 visit to Vimy will be a unique occasion: on April 9, the 25 winning students will be joined by thousands of others from Canada and around the world to mark the 100th anniversary of the historic battle, and one of the most highly recognized milestones for Canada’s 150th birthday this year.

17 Canadian students will be chosen to participate alongside 8 students from Belgium, Great Britain, France, and Germany, for a truly international educational experience.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was not simply a First World War battle; students will learn how this event was Canada’s coming of age.

“It was a seminal moment in our history, a victory that helped give us our own voice around the world,” stated Jeremy Diamond, the Vimy Foundation’s Executive Director.

Working with the Government of Canada, the Vimy Foundation is building a Visitor Education Centre at the Vimy Memorial site in France, so that students and visitors can better understand this pivotal moment in Canadian history.

Ontario’s response to the war effort is perhaps unmatched in Canada.

Dozens of battalions were raised from the province’s volunteers.

Of these, 19 volunteers were awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Empire’s highest award for gallantry.

Today, the county of Chatham-Kent remains home to The Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment, which itself perpetuates four Western Ontario Great War Battalions.

On the home front, Ontario’s agricultural and manufacturing industry fed and equipped the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

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