Her life is about saving the planet – being honoured by the city for her passion was icing on the cake.
“I was actually really shocked. I wasn’t expecting it I guess. There was so many really talented nominees,” Keila Stark said of being named Junior Citizen of the Year in the city Thursday.
Stark, a Grade 12 New Westminster Secondary student, was recognized for her leadership role with the school’s environmental club, something she’s been doing for nearly two years. While she doesn’t participate in the club for fame or recognition, part of the club’s mandate is to get people talking about environmental issues.
“The big focus there is trying to get as many people on board, obviously, because with climate change and species laws and habitat laws, and things like that, these are all things in our environmental club … we’re trying to improve,” she said.
Stark joined the club in Grade 10 and since then has helped it win several B.C. Green Games, an annual contest advocating for environmentalism in elementary and secondary schools. She also worked with the city to have a wind turbine installed on the school’s roof, a project that is nearing completion.
“We’re in the process of doing that and ordering the right parts,” she said. “It was just a matter of getting New Westminster Electric to OK it and help us hook it up.”
The wind turbine won’t be part of the city’s electrical grid; instead it’ll act as a pilot project for the community, powering a number of batteries inside the high school.
In addition to her work with the environmental club, Stark volunteers at the Vancouver Aquarium when she can. She hopes to pursue her love of marine wildlife at university next fall with the intention to one day become a marine biologist. Until then, however, she’s content to continue her work in New Westminster.
“As an environmentalist, what I want is to touch as many people as possible,” she said. “That’s happening inside the school but I also do a lot of work outside of the school, outside of New West and the fact that people actually do recognize our environmental club and the things that we do, makes me really happy.”
The other nominees for Junior Citizen of the Year included Tiger Xu, Sophie Labrosse, Nur Elmasri and Iqan Elmasri, all of which were nominated by staff at New Westminster Secondary School.
