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Red Cross Youth Symposium Inspires Student to 'Green' her High School

At the age of 16, Jennifer Hao has made the world a greener place to live. After being inspired by a climate change workshop at the Canadian Red Cross Global Issues Symposium for youth, Jennifer entered Canada’s Greenest School contest and won a hybrid school bus and a ‘green audit’ for Burnaby North Secondary School in British Columbia.

Jennifer, who is always keen to get involved in her community, registered for the three-day Red Cross Symposium after seeing a flyer advertising global issues posted in her school. Jennifer went alone, but was soon connected with a large group of peers who shared her ideals and interests.

“I have never met so many young people excited about helping humanity,” says Jennifer. “I really felt like I belonged with everyone there.” Jennifer attended workshops on five humanitarian issues, but was particularly inspired by one on climate change and green energy, called ‘Footprints’. “I never knew what fair trade was or what the benefits of local markets were,” says Jennifer. “It was a good learning experience for me.”

When Jennifer returned to school, her biology teacher mentioned a nation-wide contest in which applicants submitted how they would make their schools more eco-friendly. Motivated by what she learned at the Red Cross Symposium, Jennifer wrote a compelling submission on why Burnaby North Secondary School needed to make environmental changes and how they could be accomplished. Out of 250 entries, Jennifer’s submission was the favourite amongst Canadians who voted her into first place.

Jennifer received a $3,000 scholarship as well as a hybrid school bus for Burnaby North Secondary School to relieve traffic congestion. Burnaby North will also be given an assessment on how environmentally friendly their current practices are and how they can implement greener systems in the future.
The Red Cross congratulates Jennifer on this remarkable achievement and is honoured to have played a small role in this step towards a greener planet.