The 19th Vision Youth Leadership Program Opening Ceremony

The 19th Vision Youth Leadership Program Opening Ceremony was hosted in North York Civic Centre at 1:30pm on June 30th. Around 150 people attended the ceremony, including the youth participants (Visioneers), volunteers, parents and community members.

Mr Johnny Ho, the Chairman of the Vision Youth Leadership Program Executive Committee, greeted the audience and delivered an opening speech. He shared his experience of being a Visioneer, counsellor and program director over the past 15 years. Not only has he learnt to be a leader, he has also built a long-term friendship with other participants. Mr. Ho then introduced how Vision Youth facilitates the learning experience of youths and encouraged them that they have already taken an important step in their life by joining the program. He also introduced the Board of Directors, Executive Committee members, counsellors and other volunteers.  

The keynote speaker of the ceremony was Mr Eric Choi, the Education Director of Success Tutorial School. In his speech, Mr. Choi shared to the Visioneers about how to be a happier high school student. He also mentioned the prominent importance of staying positive and enjoying each learning moment. At the same time, he gave several examples of teenagers changing the world, stressing that teenagers have to be confident to step out of their comfort zones, so as to become a leader. 

There was a slideshow presentation of the orientation the day before the ceremony. Through ice-breaking games and different team missions, all Visioneers were given different opportunities to know each other and build up team spirit. The orientation consolidated their team-building and ensured a smooth running of the upcoming activities.

The ceremony was concluded by chant presentation by the youth participants. 50 Visioneers of 3 different levels are divided into 7 teams. Each team presented their chant with creative slogan to show their excitement to the program.

In order to enhance the communication with the parents and ensure safety of the youths during the program, Vision Youth hosted a parent session before the ceremony. 

Vision Youth Leadership Program was established in 2001. Being a not-for-profit organization, its vision is to help youths to develop life and social skills, resilience and self-confidence so that they can integrate into society in the future. Being different with other education organizations which adopt traditional teaching methods, Vision Youth Leadership Program focuses on discovering and developing participants’ potentials by getting close to nature. Vision Youth aims to provide an inspiring and supportive environment that helps participants to develop self-confidence, communication skills, public speaking, interpersonal skills, teamwork, leadership, person responsibilities, awareness of political and social issues, learn and love the nature. 

For more information about Vision Youth Leadership Program, please contact 416-800-4040 or visit www.visionyouth.ca.