Anika Vats has a blacksmith’s trove of irons in the fire at Georgetown District High School (GDHS). On any given day, she can be found in her school’s science room, music room or dance studio donating her time to various projects.
But she was all too happy to put more on her plate when called upon.
The 17-year-old was recently invited to join two of the Town of Halton Hills’ Culture Days committees. In one, she and her fellow youth are designing programs for their age group. In the other, she is on equal footing with adults many times her age.
Town Cultural Program Producer Pearl Schachter asked Vats to join the main Culture Days committee when her Bollywood dance number blew away audiences at last year’s festival. When a youth committee was proposed, Vats was naturally handpicked to be on it.
“Something I proposed to the adult committee is incorporating STEM with the arts,” Vats said when asked about some of the ideas she's put forward.
As a member of 4976 Revolt Robotics, GDHS’s FIRST Robotics team, this was a way-in for her to teach the grown-ups - and perhaps Georgetown by extension - a thing or two about robots.
But she's not all left-brained. A strong passion for the arts has guided her choice of school clubs. Choir, the Asia club and the dance club - which she started - inform some of her more artistic input in the Culture Days committees.
Vats is encouraging her fellow teens (those in grades 9 to 11) to join her on the Culture Days Youth Committee. Anyone interested can contact Emma Forbes at [email protected].
Participation can go toward students’ graduation volunteer hours, which can be accumulated at committee meetings and by participating in the events they create. The number of hours may vary depending on the event and level of participation, but Town staff estimate they will get between eight and 14 hours.
Culture Days is a national celebration of arts and culture. The annual festival that features free and by-donation events returns to Halton Hills on September 20 and will run through to October 13.
More information on Culture Days can be found at CultureDays.ca.
