Back Row: (From Left) - Judith Fehr, Lea Loewen, Kiarah Reimer, Jasmin Dueck, Michelle Beckstedt, Rhonda Kezema
Front Row: (From Left) - Dishika Bansal, Jana Dinkel
During Wednesday's P.W. Enns Business Awards Gala hosted by the Winkler and District Chamber of Commerce, students from Rhonda Kezema’s Business Management class at Garden Valley Collegiate (GVC) took the stage for a special presentation.
The group was there to thank the city’s business community for its many years of support for the school and its students. Why now? Because it’s Pay it Forward May!
"This year we did things differently, because we have a different teacher for it," explained Grade 12 student Michelle Beckstedt. "We had to decide if we wanted to help between a GVC gives back type of operation, or a Big Day thing which is kind of more school focused. We decided with our group to give back to the community, to the people and businesses that have helped us and supported us over the years with donations for scholarships and financing us in other ways and helping us with anything."
What did they do?
"We wanted to give back, so we also focused on three top businesses that have supported GVC over the years," said Grade 12 student Kiarah Reimer. "We made local gift baskets from the community, and we gave them to them. Now we're here at the Gala, and we made a little thank you card to just to say 'Thank you from GVC.'"
That thank you specifically included the gifting of hand-made seed packets to all attendees with the message "Thank you for helping our school community grow".
Importance of saying "Thanks"
"We've never done something like this, so it's really special to say 'Thank you' from us, like more personal," added Reimer.
"It's really nice to be able to come out on behalf of GVC and say 'Thank you' and be the faces of that," said Beckstedt.
"Just do it," said Reimer when asked to encourage the community to hop on board with Pay it Forward May. "It's a good experience and it's good to see everyone giving back and being happy. It's good to see everyone taking part."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Michelle Beckstedt and Kiarah Reimer, below.