Esquimalt High School student Anthony Andrew-Charles felt like he had a one-in-million experience as one of 14 youths across Canada selected to participate in a workshop hosted by the RCMP.
For seven days the Grade 12 student was introduced to several motivational speakers, experienced the RCMP police training program and had a chance to further develop a Community Action Plan (CAP) at the Youth Leadership Workshop in Regina that wrapped up on Feb. 18.
“It helped me improve my leadership skills and makes me want to do better (at) taking more of a leadership role on what to do in my life,” said Andrew-Charles, reflecting on his time in Regina.
Before applying to the workshop, Andrew-Charles had to create a CAP that identified issues impacting young people within their home community and had to think about possible solutions to those issues. During the workshop, Andrew-Charles was able to create a more structured outline for his CAP.
Andrew-Charles came up with a concept to build a multi-use-games area for youth aged 13 to 18 in Esquimalt by applying for funding grants and teaming up with community partners. He wants to create the recreational area because he thinks Esquimalt has few positive spaces for teens to participate in activities or sports.
“Although I was nervous to present to the whole group, one of the best parts of the week was actually presenting my CAP project to my peers. I was really excited to share and tell all my new friends about my home community and my project,” said Andrew-Charles.
Since the workshop, the high-schooler said his next steps to develop the multi-use area are to speak to the chief and council about setting up a community meeting to get feedback on what parents and teenagers are looking to see from the project.
The student was picked for the Regina workshop after running into RCMP Cst. Cole Brewer at a Christmas dinner who told him about the opportunity.
Andrew-Charles believes the experience put him a step closer to his dream job of being a commercial vessel operator or ship captain. Brewer is thrilled to see what Andrew-Charles will do in the future and believes he has the potential to be a great leader.
“Anthony is a really mature and bright young man, with a lot of options in his future. It is quite possible that Anthony could achieve his dream in the RCMP, he proved this last week that he is totally capable,” said Brewer in a statement.
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