Topic: “Uprising: A New Age is Dawning for Every Mother’s Daughter”. Human rights activist, journalist, and award-winning author Sally Armstrong has covered stories about women and girls in zones of conflict all over the world. She has received many awards such as the Amnesty International Media Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Journalism [...]
Topic: The Impact of Domestic Violence on the Workplace Dr. Jaffe is the well-known Academic Director of the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western and has spent over 30 years working to champion women and children victims of domestic violence. The Centre’s Community Director, Barb MacQuarrie, will co-present [...]
Ellen McDonald was the winner of the 2014 essay contest “Proud to be Canadian” and is excited to share it with the WCC audience. Ellen was born in March 2003 and will enter grade 7 in September. She lives in Thorndale with her parents and 2 younger brothers. Ellen is passionate about acting, singing, and [...]
Topic: Music and the Brain: Why Rhythm Makes Us Move With many degrees and awards to her credit, Dr. Grahn brings her knowledge and experience in neuroscience, piano performance and the psychology of brain and mind to our podium. Her research is currently funded by the National Sciences and Engineering Council, Parkinson Society Canada, the [...]
Jackson Martin is a 15 year-old student in the French Immersion Program at Sir Wilfred Laurier Secondary School in London. He will be our Youth Speaker on Thursday October 8, 2015 at Centennial Hall. Jackson is the son of Katherynne and Richard Martin and has been in 17 films, mostly shorts. He attended the Cannes [...]
Topic: Jest for the Health of It Dr. Shonk says he works hard to show that “there ain’t much fun in medicine but there is a lot of medicine in fun!” A retired Family Practice doctor with a special interest in Pediatrics and Palliative Care, Ken believes in using humour in stress management, relationships, parenting [...]
Jasmine Ryu Won Kang is 13 and in grade 9 at Central Secondary School in London. She is the 2015 Kathryn Sells Scholarship recipient. Jasmine won first place at the Ontario Provincial Finals for grade 9 piano in 2014 and received honourable mention for grade 10 piano in 2015. Last year, she had the honour [...]
Topic: Music We Love at Christmas Michael Vanhevel is a 23-year-old “crooner” from Grand Bend. He has performed in Halifax, Sudbury, London, Cambridge, Niagara and Stratford and to sold-out houses at the Stratford Festival, The Victoria Playhouse, and several Drayton Entertainment venues. He is delighted to be back at Centennial Hall following his performance there [...]
Topic: Humanitarian Aid With Dignity A professional contracting engineer and an active humanitarian aid worker, Jeff has traveled and worked in over 180 countries. From East Africa to Cambodia to the Middle East to Afghanistan, he has spent years giving aid. Now he heads up TARA International, is a member of the board of the [...]
Courtney Coleman, 15, will speak about her experiences as a model and actor. After modeling and taking acting classes in New York City in the summer of 2014, she became involved with improv theatre. That lead to her stunt work in a short film which will be released this year. In November, she was named [...]