Bill Atwood

As someone who works with homeless youth, Ann Vaters helps some of the most vulnerable people in Stratford and Perth County. For Vaters, though, connecting with these youth has become one of the best parts of her job. “I just love connecting with the youth and listening to their stories,” Vaters said. “Each one is unique. Not everyone is the same — not every youth is the same — but, similarly, they share that common denominator of homelessness, unfortunately. They each come with their own unique story.”

Although counting fish sounds like a job that could get pretty monotonous, Erin Carroll doesn’t think so. “It doesn’t get old,” Carroll said “We’re always finding new things. It’s one of the wonders of nature that you can go out to the same place routinely and always find something new.” Carrying what looked like a bright orange backpack, Carroll, along with assistant aquatic biologist Dave Johnson and local farmer Brad Wilhelm, used a method of “electric” fishing that, using an anode and cathode, temporarily stunned the fish. .

Look inside the kitchen at The Local Community Food Centre and there are two words that come to mind: calmness and organization. That ordered approach could be seen last week during the Wednesday and Friday morning preparations for the week-ending community meal that fed 196 Stratford-area residents. This sense of efficiency would be especially noticeable to anyone who had worked in a full-service restaurant, where chaos normally abounds.

Michael Smidts didn’t set out to write a book. In fact, he hadn’t written much of anything, outside of school assignments. But that all changed when Smidts joined the Write Academy Facebook group. Entering a weekly contest prompt in that group – a challenge to write exactly 100 words about a topic – Smidts wrote his first short story, Silence.

A Waterloo-Oxford graduate has been honoured with one of the most prestigious awards a Wilfrid Laurier student can receive. Sonia Kagolovskaya, who will be entering her second year as a bachelor of music in piano major, was named a Laurier Scholars Award winner for the 2023-2024 school year.

Former EDSS teacher Gord Davis is about to retire for the second time, this time from The Singer’s Theatre in Kitchener. Davis is credited with starting the drama program at the school in 1971, though that was not originally his intention.