Awards honour high schoolers’ academic and athletic achievements

In his book Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv links a lack of experience of nature in the lives of wired youngsters with disturbing childhood trends such as rising obesity and depression.

It’s a worry that seems far from a student like Giulia Barile of St. Anne Catholic High School.

On the honour roll through her high school career, she has won city and regional championships in soccer, and coaches and referees the sport. She hopes to qualify for the Lancer varsity team when she starts studies in kinesiology at the University of Windsor in September.

“It takes a lot of passion to achieve your goals,” Barile says. “You have to work at it every day.”

She was one of 25 recipients of a Human Kinetics Book Award honoured at a reception Friday for the outstanding student-athlete graduating from each area high school. The awards recognize students who have maintained outstanding academic performance and have made exceptional contributions to their schools and communities through athletics, leadership and volunteer activities.

Here is the full list of the 2013 winners:

  • Lisa Hamilton, Academie Ste. Cecile International School
  • Garrick Loewen, Assumption College School
  • Olivia King, Belle River District High School
  • Lauren Benson, F.J. Brennan High School
  • Alessia Zonta, Cardinal Carter Catholic Secondary School
  • Jasmine O’Halloran, Catholic Cental High School
  • Alicia Zanier, Essex District High School
  • Gabriella Alagha, École Secondaire L'Essor
  • Habib Haidar, J.L. Forster Secondary School
  • Robin Kellam, General Amherst High School
  • Jake Lukacs, Harrow District High School
  • Curtis Holmes, W.F. Herman Secondary School
  • Meighan Piche, Holy Names High School
  • Rachel Andrews, Kennedy Collegiate Institute
  • Abbey Arnott, Kingsville District High School
  • Kari-Rae Bezaire, École Secondaire E.J. Lajeunesse
  • Mathew Chamberlain, Leamington District Secondary School
  • Alethea Fei, Maranatha Christian Academy
  • Trevor Way, Vincent Massey Secondary School
  • Samantha Lyons, Riverside Secondary School
  • Giulia Barile, St. Anne High School
  • Stephanie Karam, St. Joseph’s Catholic High School
  • Melissa Mayrand, St. Thomas of Villanova Secondary School
  • Christopher Trudell, Sandwich Secondary School
  • Tyler Topolie, Walkerville Collegiate Institute

Each honoree received a sports- or health-related book to keep, and their school libraries will receive a copy of Last Child in the Woods, with a book plate acknowledging the honoured students.

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