Kaeleigh is a grade twelve student from Fox Creek, Alberta. Kaeleigh will be attending university next year as a prerequisite to a pharmacy and business program at the University of Alberta. She has participated in science fair for 9 years, most recently winning Best In Fair at the Peace Country Regional Science Fair. She has been fortunate enough to compete at the Canada-Wide Science Fair for 2013 and 2014 consecutively. Her projects in the past have included a study on the misdiagnosis of Lyme Disease as Multiple Sclerosis and a study on the use of common transcription factors to reprogram mature cells.
Kaeleigh has also been fortunate enough to be a participant in the Heritage Youth Research Summer Program at the University of Alberta, where she spent the past summer testing a new library of compounds on Acute Myloid Leukemia cells in Dr. John Lewis’ Experimental Oncology laboratory. She will be returning to continue studying in the lab this summer.
Kaeleigh is a strong advocate for the environment, with her past endeavours including running the school greenhouse, and most recently, planning her school’s graduation with a ‘green’ theme, where each graduate was gifted a tree, which was to be planted in their name in the elementary school playground following graduation.
Along with a passion for science, Kaeleigh is also an active volunteer and leader within her community. Kaeleigh has held several executive roles with her school’s Student’s Union, and took the initiative to found a Student Engagement Team to encompass the student voice and needs within the classroom and school. Kaeleigh acted as the student representative on the Community Engagement Team, as well as the local Youth Interagency Panel, both where she advocated in the best interest of local youth. Kaeleigh has been a member of the Government of Alberta Youth Advisory Panel through the ministry of Human Services, and has recently attended the National Mentoring Symposium Youth Leadership Forum.
Kaeleigh was most recently recognized as the valedictorian of her graduating class, and has been recognized with academic honours since fourth grade, and top academic honours in the past two years. Kaeleigh has been recognized with local citizenship and leadership awards, as well as a Northern Gateway Leading Spirits Award, and most recently, a TD Community Leadership Award of Merit.
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