Distinguished Service Awards
Volunteers and Staff – The Key to Youth Science Canada Programs
Youth Science Canada estimates that each year, about 8000 adult volunteers across the country are responsible for the success of Youth Science Canada Programs –as committee members, judges, mentors and others at the regional, provincial and national levels. Some of these volunteers have dedicated countless hours over many years and are deserving of recognition at the national level. In addition, people have made similarly outstanding contributions to the programs that included paid work, either for Youth Science Canada or an associated organization
Every year, Youth Science Canada recognizes up to 10 volunteers and staff who have made outstanding contributions to the organization or its programs at the local, regional, provincial, or national level. The Distinguished Service Award celebrates innovation, leadership and length of service.
About the Nomination Process
Any two individuals representing a committee, partner, or affiliated organization at the regional, provincial, or national level of Youth Science Canada may make a nomination using the form provided. The nomination remains in effect for up to three years (unless withdrawn by the nominators). An individual may be nominated more than once, and awards may be granted posthumously.
Care should be taken to provide sufficient detail and examples to ensure that the reviewers have a brief, clear and complete summary highlighting areas that qualify the nominee’s service as outstanding.
The Youth Science Canada Board of Directors evaluates all nominations for the current year together with any held over from the previous two years and selects the recipients.
Nominations must be received no later than January 31 of each year.
The form allows nominators to see all questions in advance (form validation happens on submission) and we have enabled the ‘save & resume’ feature so that submissions can be completed over multiple sessions.
What we’re looking for
Distinguished service to Youth Science Canada affiliates, partners and programs takes many forms. Past recipients of this award have typically served at Level 3 or 4 under one or more of the categories below. When describing the nominee’s service, for each applicable category, please include a short summary of examples which illustrate the level of service.
Involvement levels include:
- Level 1: Limited involvement
- Level 2: Some involvement
- Level 3: Considerable involvement
- Level 4: Extensive involvement
Nominees require at least considerable involvement (Level 3 or 4) in one or more of the below categories.
Categories include:
- Years of service to Youth Science Canada (including any of our programs – eg. a regional STEM fair, CWSF, Team Canada or service to Youth Science Canada itself)
- School level involvement
- Regional involvement
- YSC national program involvement
- YSC national committee or Board involvement
- Overall contribution to YSC’s mission, vision and ends
For each of the relevant categories, nominators must provide a description (max. 250 words) supporting the level of involvement declared. Additional details that don’t fit nicely into these categories, but which nominators feel are important to support the nomination, can also be included via a written description or audio submission through the nomination form.
Past Winners
The recipients of this award are listed below. You can search for specific people using the magnifying glass symbol, and can filter by year, name, city or province using the filter symbol.