Meghan Whynott
COUNSELLOR:
Darleen Kifiak
SCHOOL:
Walnut Grove Secondary
CITY:
Langley, BC
It is with great pleasure and pride that I nominate Megan Whynott for the “Trevor H. Shirtliff Difference Maker” Scholarship. Megan has made as significant impact on both our school and on our school district. For the past four years, Megan has been the president of our school's Pride/GLA club. She has been a strong leader in this club, advocating for the emotional and physical needs of our LGBTQ+ community. She has hosted weekly meetings to provide a safe place for all students, she organized week-long Pride events, she has advocated for a progressive alliance culture in our school, and she has spoken at staff meetings to education staff on ways to make their classrooms safe and and inclusive. On a school level, Megan was a key part of the student team who encouraged our administration of the need for safe, gender neutral washrooms for students.
As word of Megan's impact on our school became known, our district administrators looked to her for guidance on making all schools in Langley safe and welcoming for LGBTQ+ students. She has given workshops to elementary and secondary school in Langley and in the Greater Vancouver Regional Area on ways to ensure that all youth are safe and welcome in our classrooms.
All of this Megan has accomplished while battling her own mental health issues. She is open about the depression and anxiety she has suffered. She shares her story about this with others in an effort to destigmatize mental health concerns with youth. There are few students in Langley, in BC and in Canada who have had such a strong, direct and lasting impact on a school and district as Megan Whynott have.
Megan is planning to attend university to become a high school teacher. The fact that her impact on schools could continue in the future makes me so proud and gives me so much hope for the future of BC schools.
Megan has accomplished all of these things while being a strong academic student. She has a GPA of over 95% and she is enrolled in Advanced Placement classes; she is also a French Immersion student. Outside of school, Megan is a commmitted soccer player and coach: she understands the importance of physical health to mental health.
