Old Perlican teacher, student recognized for work
Alyssa Barrett lives her life with singular focus — she wants to enact a form of positive change, and it is a desire that has permeated many aspects of her life.
The 17-year-old from Old Perlican is an active volunteer at Baccalieu Collegiate and in her hometown, where she also runs a business called Candy Treasures by Alyssa.
“I always wanted to be the person to make a positive change,” said Barrett. “Growing up, no matter how busy I was, I would just make time to help somebody. That’s just my personality.”
She also has a non-profit organization called Kits for Kids that aims to provide underprivileged children with school supplies for the new school year.
The weeks leading up to the start of school were always exciting for Barrett as she picked up all her gear for a new year, and she wanted to help others get that feeling.
So, she started Kits for Kids to give every child equal footing as they returned to school.
“I just want to give every kid that opportunity,” said Barrett.
It is part of the reason she was one of eight students from across the country to be named a 2021 Difference Maker of the Year by the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program.
“Being a difference-maker really connected to me because there is so much change that can happen in the world and people just wait for it to happen. I just want to make that change happen,” said Barrett. “To make everybody have equal rights in the world is very important.”
The awards were announced last week as a part of National Accessability Week. Twenty people from across the country were named winners from the foundation’s school program. For the first time, there were winners from every province in Canada, as well as Nunavut.
Joining Barrett on the list of award winners is Melissa Somerton. A shared guidance counsellor for the three schools in the Baccalieu Collegiate school system, she has spent much of the last year working to help students navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and all that came with it.
“It really meant a lot,” said Somerton.
In her role, she has taken the initiative to sponsor diversity and inclusive programs for students of all ages.
Somerton said it was important to offer those supports to students as they returned to school — virtually and in person — during the pandemic.
Her work also included presentations to student groups in the hope of fostering a sense of diversity and inclusion among them.
Being that her work takes her to a trio of schools, it allows her to interact with students of all ages.
“It is really important to hit students as early on as possible with the social and emotional learning piece, and around inclusion and diversity,” said Somerton.
For her, the award is a representation of the work she is doing as a guidance counsellor in the Old Perlican region.
It means even more for her that the award came from the Rick Hansen Foundation.
“It just means so much to me personally,” said Somerton. “It is an amazing organization.
“I am so humbled.” Somerton and Barrett have worked together on different initiatives in the past at the school.
They’ve collaborated on events meant to raise awareness for mental-health initiatives and improving mental health for students.
“It was a great honour to be nominated with (Somerton),” said Barrett.
Kerri Abbott isn’t quite sure what a Carbonear-influenced greenhouse is going to look like, but she’s excited to find out.
Recently, the Carbonear Food Bank, of which she is chairperson, was selected as the future home of an earthsheltered greenhouse.
“It is a great opportunity,” said Abbott.
It is a part of a provincial initiative being put off by the Food Producers Forum, in conjunction with O’brien’s Farms and Memorial University, aimed at improving food production and food security in hubs around the province.
As such, the Carbonear Food Bank is one of seven food hubs around the province that has been selected to be a part of the greenhouse outreach project.
These seven — which also include hubs in Codroy Valley, Norris Point, King’s Point, Gambo, Port Blandford and Happy Valley-goose Bay — will each have a unique version of an earth-sheltered greenhouse built for them as a part of the project.
They were selected out of 27 applications from around the province.
These greenhouses will be tuned to local needs and the growing environment in hopes of maximizing the level of community involvement.
Each one will help strengthen these hubs as local centres of food production and food security.
Abbott sees the Carbonear Food Bank’s inclusion in the project as a way to help the people who use it.
It will allow them to grow fresh food instead of relying on produce from local supermarkets. It also offers an educational component where they can educate people about growing their food.
“This last year has been incredibly difficult and we worry about the people we serve, and we worry about our partners. This is an opportunity for us to get back out there,” said Abbott, “to also do it knowing we have the support of people who are completely informed and knowledgeable and will help us achieve a new level of food security in this region.”
This outreach phase of the project comes after a similar greenhouse was built at O’brien’s Farms in St. John’s.
There will be site visits and consultations as the group designs unique earth-sheltered greenhouses in the areas selected.
Being in Gros Morne, the Norris Point-based Gros Morne Farm and Market has made steps recently to become a bit more centred around agri-tourism.
There is a belief that being part of the outreach project will help them even more in that respect.
“It’s fantastic,” Laurie Haycock, who owns the farm with her husband, Boyd Maynard, said of being part of the project. “This will help us be able to grow year-round, or close to year-round, and be able to have a lot earlier starts.”
She sees plenty of advantages that will be afforded to her farm when the greenhouse is complete. It will give them an extension to their growing season, as well as add to the local tourism industry.
When the greenhouse is up and running, the new growing space will enable them to supply local restaurants with fresh food earlier than before, Haycock said.
Like Carbonear, she sees there being an educational component as a key part of the project.
“It is a pretty unique experience and a great opportunity,” said Haycock.