9th Annual Rotary Club of Peterborough Celebrates Spelling Bee Winners

The Rotary Club of Peterborough announces that the 9th Annual School Spelling Bee on May 13 was an overwhelming success; granting the first, second and third place winners with prizes from Camp Kawartha, Trent Excalibur Camp, The Art School of Peterborough and iPads from Your TV.

Junior Division Top Three (from left to right) Kaiden Surpllis, Arthur Zadro, Olivia Jones. photo courtesy of the rotary club of peterborough.

On Saturday, May 13, some of the top spellers in the city from Grades 4 to 8 competed in the Regional Spelling Bee Final. The group of over 60 students divided by grade (Grades 4-6 in the junior challenge, Grades 7-8 in the senior challenge) was whittled down from over 4,200 students from all over the county who competed in mini spelling bees at their schools.

Third place finalists in each division, Kaiden Surphlis of James Strath Public School in the junior division and Crepe Cochrane of Adam Scott Intermediate School in the senior division, won an iPad courtesy of YourTV and $50 to use toward youth programs at the Art School of Peterborough.

Second Place Finalists in each division, Arthur Zadro of Our Lady of the Wayside Academy in the junior division and Sonny Gillis of St. Catherine Elementary School in the senior won a Trent Excalibur Ultimate Camp session and $100 toward a youth program at The Art School of Peterborough.

First Place Finalists in each division, Olivia Jones of St. Catherine Elementary in the junior division and Noah Hofman of Kenner Intermediate School in the senior division won a Camp Kawartha Overnight camp Session, a family photo shoot from Miranda Studios and $225 to use toward youth programs at the Art School of Peterborough.

Senior Division Top Three (from left to right) Crepe Cochrane, Sonny Gillis, BUZZ the Spelling Bee mascot, Noah Hofman. photo courtesy of the rotary club of peterborough.

The finalists’ schools’ also received $250, $500 and $1,000 respectively to use toward literacy programs and materials.

The Rotary Club of Peterborough says they are grateful to all teachers, principals, parents and guardians for organizing the mini-spelling bees at their schools and within their home schooling community, and thank them for supporting young people in the community and The Rotary Club of Peterborough’s Literacy Committee’s goal of promoting literacy and a love of reading and writing.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Former Trent Student Founds Website Incentivizing People to Shop Locally

In an innovative and creative way to incentivize people to shop local while promoting small businesses, former Trent student Nick Mitchell founded a new community engagement project called “Take a Challenge, Make a Change" (TACMAC).

Mitchell has been a lifeguard instructor in Kenya and a chef in British Columbia. Photo Courtesy of TACMAC.

Launching this Thursday, the website encourages participants — primarily post-secondary students — to engage in fun challenges to earn discounts or rewards and support charity while supporting small businesses.

Challenges are complete by posting a picture of themselves at the establishments on Instagram with the hashtag #TACMACJACKPOT. Anyone who enters will be registered for a weekly jackpot for a chance to donate $100 —money supplied by TACMAC — to a charity of the winner’s choice.

The charitable idea stemmed from Mitchell’s time working at One Roof Community Centre. It inspired him to create a business dedicated to giving back to the community. The inspiration for creating TACMAC came from his time at Trent where his friends and classmates knew of very few places to spend time and shop in town and go to the same place repeatedly.

"I’ve come across so many of my fellow peers who time after time say there's nothing to do in Peterborough," said Mitchell. "The response was that they didn't know this (certain places) even existed."

Some examples include having a home cook-off with a friend based on one ingredient from The Food Shop or purchasing crickets from the House of Scales and make a meal from them.

TACMAC creates an outlet for students to experience Peterborough outside of the ‘campus bubble” according to Mitchell.

Photo Courtesy of TACMAC.

Businesses can register themselves through TACMAC’s website for a small fee to allow customers to take part in their challenges. The incentive is another way for entrepreneurs to promote and advertise their businesses.

Mitchell says the timing of TACMAC could not be any better since some people are unsure of what is open or closed during the current stages of the pandemic.

"It just gives people a clear-cut path to activities in Peterborough," said Mitchell. "There's probably going to be a lot of confusion to what's okay. When they see it on the website, it kind of reduces a bit of the anxiety."

Over 20 businesses have registered for TACMAC.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

Trent University Supports the Creation of 100 New Student Summer Jobs

More than 100 student summer jobs have been created through the renewed Trent Summer Work Experience Program (TSWEP), providing undergraduate and graduate students at Trent University career experience through paid summer employment opportunities announced Friday.

File Photo.

"While a summer job provides an important opportunity for university students to earn income, it also offers an excellent opportunity for personal and professional development by building connections and developing skills that will serve them well in their future career paths," explains Dr. Michael Khan, provost and vice-president Academic. “The Trent Summer Work Experience Program is one of the many ways Trent equips students with guaranteed career-building experiences alongside leading faculty and staff from across the University.”

A joint initiative of Careerspace and the Office of the Registrar, TSWEP provided funding support to create both part-time and full-time employment opportunities for Trent students this summer.

Through the program, positions were created in more than 60 departments at the University including the Office of Student Affairs, Housing Services, Bata Library, External Relations and Advancement, as well as within academic departments.

These positions allow students to access diverse hands-on work experience with opportunities to engage in research, marketing, data analysis, completing independent projects, assisting and developing ways to pivot department resources online.

“I’ve gained invaluable hands-on experience working for the Trent Community Research Centre,” says Momina Shahid, a Trent Business student. “TCRC has provided me with the ideal research experience as well as an amazing opportunity to work directly with members of the local community and community organizations.”

TSWEP covers the full cost of student salaries, at the regular student rate, for approved summer positions with Trent departments and faculty. To have been eligible for these new positions, students must be returning to study at Trent in the fall and have demonstrated financial need.

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

United Way Delivering “Day of Caring” Donations For Students and Shelters

Local shelters and students will receive more than 100 kits each donated by the community and collected by United Way’s “Day of Caring” announced on Wednesday.

School supplies such as backpacks, pencil crayons, markers, notebooks, paper and more were school supply items donated to the United Way. Photo Courtesy of United Way.

More than 120 local residents donated 275 kits worth of items (135 for local shelters and 139 for students) at the United Way office in downtown Peterborough last Wednesday. Brant Office Supply contributed more than 200 facemasks to be included in all kits. 

Personal hygiene and care product kits are for the local shelters. Backpacks filled with school supplies are for the students of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board and Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board as part of the United Way’s “Backpacks For Kids” program.

The community collection drive was a departure from past “Day of Caring” events that had volunteers working on local projects and instead focused on meeting the immediate needs of those in our community who are financially insecure, precariously housed or homeless. 

Toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, body wash, sanitizer, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, bandages and more were in the personal care kits. Photo Courtesy of United Way.

Jim Russell, district C.E.O. was overcome with pride at being part of such a generous and giving community.

“To hear stories from so many people as to what inspired them to give to this initiative really served to bring home to me that we are lucky to live, work and play in such an empathetic and caring community,” he said. “One young girl heard the call to action on the news and spent her allowance to create a kit… … She said that when she first came to Peterborough, she received a backpack through her school and will never forget how proud and lucky that made her feel so was excited for the chance to pay it forward.”

Engage with us on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Write to us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Sign up for PTBOBuzz newsletter here.

A Final PCVS Photo Of Staff & Students To Say Goodbye To Iconic School

[via @susieclarke]

R.I.P. PCVS

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Here's Videos Of PCVS Student Reaction Immediately After KPR Decision Last Night

[MyKawartha]

[chextvDOTcom]

And reaction today from students at PCVS...

[chextvDOTcom]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.