A report and picture by Pat Hampson

Why should a young person consider being an Oliver Ambassador?

I recently talked with Lori Martine, coordinator of Oliver’s Ambassador Program regarding the personal development potential for all the candidates and the importance of having a selection of young people in order to run a successful program each year. Lori offered these comments via email.

“As coordinator of the Oliver Ambassador Program here in Oliver, I am proud to work with the youth in our community. Each year we recruit students in Grades 9-11 to participate in our Candidacy program and provide leadership in public speaking, interview skills, personal deportment, and provide opportunities to volunteer within the community. This year has been a challenge due to the small number of participants. It is easier to work as a volunteers when you have a larger pool of workers to pull from, and the activities and training sessions are more enjoyable with a bigger group. Fund-Raising efforts are also diminished with fewer candidates! It is the committee’s sincere hope that we will be able to encourage more youth to join us next year. Please keep in mind that this experience is great for people skills, and is definitely ‘Resume’ worthy”.

So there you have it! – Being involved as an Ambassador is not just about competing for a position, it is all about opportunities to be involved in our community, learning new skills and having fun as well. A very important spin-off will be the opportunity to develop a resume listing your participation which give a prospective employers tangible evidence of your value as an employee.

Recruitment starts just before Spring Break, the program starts in March and the Pageant is in August.