The Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program has recognized Dayna Corelli, a Grade 12 student at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School as one of this year’s fifteen $5,000 scholarship winners. The award recognizes her outstanding achievements in environmental community service, academics and extracurricular participation. Dayna is among an elite group of students from across Canada chosen from a pool of more than 400 applicants.
“These students are involved in an array of inspiring projects that are having significant impact on their communities,” said Jed Goldberg, President of Earth Day Canada. “They are truly stepping forward as the environmental leaders of tomorrow.”
Dayna led her school’s Envirothon team to first place in a 2007 competition where she had the opportunity to make recommendations to the City of Greater Sudbury regarding water and energy conservation. She is active in other environmental initiatives in her community and also helped her Ontario team win a gold medal at a national soccer championship.
At school, Dayna keeps environmental considerations clearly in focus as the president of her student council.She is also a senior member of the Environmental Club, a role in which she coordinates the school’s recycling program and promotes energy efficiency and water conservation projects. Despite her busy schedule Dayna manages to find time to volunteer with the community’s nonprofit organizations. She was instrumental in helping a local youth centre win funding through the Young Philanthropist Challenge and spends time campaigning for Efficient Sudbury, an organization promoting home energy efficiency.
Dayna was presented with a $5,000 ceremonial cheque at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School on Tuesday, April 22, (Earth Day) by Mike Charbonneau, Area Parts and Service Manager for Toyota’s Northern Ontario Division. “On behalf of Toyota Canada it gives me great pleasure to present Dayna Corelli with the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship award for her commitment to environmental stewardship and her unending desire to improve the environment,” stated Charbonneau. “This scholarship will help to further her education and help her develop into one of Canada’s future environmental leaders.”
Dayna will now move on as a finalist for the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship National Award. The student chosen from among the 15 finalists will be presented with a Panasonic notebook computer at a ceremony on May 22, 2008
