Grade 9 student Anicah Poynting (left), and Grade 11 Alex Northcott (right), pictured here with posters made by various classes supporting the inclusion of all students. (Submitted photo/Tracie Harty)

By Martin Martinson

Inclusion for all

JPII students support special needs programs through RCMP Youth Advisory Committee

Apr 16, 2021 | 2:19 PM

Two local students at John Paul II Collegiate (JPII) are doing what they can to raise awareness and advocate for those with special needs at their high school.

Grade 9 student, Anicah Poynting, and Grade 11, Alex Northcott, helped raise over $330 for the special needs programs at the school this month as members of the RCMP Youth Advisory Committee.

Together, the pair planned a School Hat Day for April 7th and 8th, which allowed students and staff to purchase the chance to wear a hat to show their support for $2.00. All proceeds were then put towards the school’s Alternate Education Program and Functionally Integrated Program.

“We honestly didn’t think it would raise that much money, but it was amazing to see,” said Northcott, who hopes to become an RCMP officer one day. “We were hoping to get to about $100, so we definitely surpassed that amount, and it was just really great to see the support from our peers and everyone who took part.”

In addition to wearing hats, the school body was also encouraged to wear purple to raise awareness for Epilepsy, yellow to raise awareness for all disabilities, and blue to raise awareness for Autism. Poynting and Northcott then provided each Period 6 class with materials to create advocacy posters of inclusion and awareness, that were then posted in the hallway.

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Pictured here: Anicah Poynting (left) and Alex Northcott (centre) pose for a picture in front of posters in the hallway with their advisor, Constable Laura Cockrum (right). (Submitted photo/Tracie Harty)

Poynting said she knew right away she wanted to do something related to the school’s special needs program, as it is a topic that hits close to home.

“My sister is special needs, and she has a very rare genetic disorder. So when it comes to the inclusion part of it, I’ve seen it first-hand where sometimes [in society] these kids will get kind of overlooked,” Poynting said. “I just wanted to do something where they could be the focus. We wanted to show our support for them.”

Constable Laura Cockrum, who served as the girls’ advisor for the project, said it was great to see how passionate the pair were towards their cause.

“They both had a really positive attitude and had good ideas,” Cockrum said. “They did really well meeting with the principals, writing out their announcements for over the intercom, and it was encouraging to see they really cared about doing something for the special needs group; I was really quite impressed.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1