As Stephanie Morris addressed Newmarket’s Youth Leadership Group during her last event as president, she expressed pride in what they had accomplished.
The group gathered June 22, putting on an evening stream with six guest speakers highlighting career opportunities for those leaving high school, as Morris is.
“It’s been a challenging year with the lasting effects of COVID,” she said. “Everyone always showed up to our meetings via Zoom, able to learn, be together … I’m very proud of this group, and it’s been my honour to serve you as your president.”
The group offered local youth the chance to hear about different career paths and how to get into them. They lined up a doctor, lawyer, IT specialist, financial advisor, kinesiologist, and an aerospace engineer to talk to them and others about future possibilities. About 17 attended the Zoom call, though the event was also partially broadcast on Facebook.
Morris said youth at this age have a hard decision about their future, especially in a pandemic.
“It can be difficult when you’re at that time in your life at the end of high school, when you kind of feel like your whole entire future is in front of you and you have to kind of decide what path you want to start with,” she said. “This event was such a big thing to me. You have so many jobs and resources available in one place.”
The group’s senior president, Teresa Kruze, said the youth have put a lot of effort into the group, and she was pleased by how it went.
She said it was important to maintain the group for the past couple of years even as the pandemic made it more difficult.
“The pandemic really presented a lot of issues and we needed to bring our youth together more than ever,” she said.
The group has run since 2018, founded by Ward 1 Councillor Grace Simon, who still takes part.
“I’m so proud of this group of incredible, incredible youth,” Simon said after the event. “Everyone was absolutely outstanding.”
Morris said the group accomplished many things, such as raising money for the Newmarket charity Abuse Hurts. But she added that she hopes they can expand the group outwards.
“I want to see more engagement,” Morris said. “I want to have a lot more people coming into our group … Having a point where we can connect with a lot more people through the area to find even more volunteer opportunities.”
The group still plans to carry on into the future. Kruze said they will post the event recording and hope to spread the word to more youth going forward. She said they also hope to host another winter carnival, which they did in 2019 but has been sidelined by the pandemic the past two years.
“Their future is so bright, and it’s just our hope that we give them all the tools and knowledge they need to take that next step in their lives."
