Around town: Willow Beach acknowledges student’s contributions

By Cecilia Nasmith,
NorthumberlandToday.com,
August 1 2017

Willow Beach Field Naturalists have announced that St. Mary Catholic Secondary School graduate Yoojong (Christina) Baik is their scholarship winner for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Yoojong accepted the $1,000 Environmental Scholarship award from Maaike Berg at the school’s recent graduation.

Dedicated to the protection and enhancement of this area’s natural heritage, the group selects a scholarship recipient each year based on the applicants’ volunteer contributions to the environment within their communities, and takes into consideration their future goals in the sustainable sector.

Yoojong attended the Ontario Nature Youth Summit last September, and was inspired to help bring back the Eco Club at her school. She was instrumental in forming a dedicated group of students to raise awareness of environmental issues in the school.

Together with the Cobourg Ecology Garden and Mr. Winter, Yoojong and the club members germinated several species of native flowers and planted these to help increase the biodiversity of Lucas Point.

Her eagerness to be directly involved in a hands-on way with a community event is applauded, the club’s press release stated.

Yoojong plans to pursue a commerce degree, specializing in non-profit management, with the possibility of working with international organizations advocating for environmental issues. She is very passionate about working towards a management role in which sustainability is the focus.

Each year, the scholarship committee has a challenge to select the most deserving student from the list of dedicated and deserving applicants. The Willow Beach Field Naturalists hope that many more students may be encouraged to get involved and find out what WBFN is all about.