Edmonton student rewarded for community involvement

An Edmonton high school student has been awarded up to $75, 000 in scholarship money for his work with both inner city youth and the international Learning Beyond Borders program.

Zia Saleh is creator of school program "Sports for Hope", helping kids through sports.

The program takes after Saleh’s own efforts at Eastwood School last year when he went after school twice a week to play and coach ball hockey to troubled children.

Although extremely tough in the beginning with a lack of trust and respect from the kids, Saleh said that with persistence he was able to turn the situation around.

The high school student points out that convincing the grade 4-6 kids that they were in "an equal in a safe, non-judgmental environment" was key.

Since Saleh’s pioneering efforts at Eastwood, both Delton and Norwood Schools have also picked up the program, with Saleh rounding up other volunteers to help coach.

The Canadian Merit Foundation awards only 30 students annually for displaying character, community service and leadership potential.

Saleh says the award will help him study anywhere he wants and not be limited by finances as many students are.

The 18-year old’s assistant principle at Old Scona Academic High School applauds his efforts, stating Saleh "is such a neat kid, he is very charismatic and his passion is kind of infectious," Dee Elder says. "For his academic and community work, he is a very worthy recipient of this prestigious award."

Saleh says he wanted to be involved locally with troubled kids. Feeling as though he was good at sports such as ball hockey he wrote several schools offering to help.

"I was living in Riverbend, and looked up all the inner city schools on the Internet and wrote them all letters. But I was 16, and only Eastwood replied and said they would give me a try for a few weeks."

Saleh says his previous sports experience as well as his own past experiences helped him connect with the kids.

Although expected to leave to Ontario for university, Saleh has convinced a few friends to carry on the "Sports for Hope" program. He hopes to establish a similar program while in Toronto.

"Everybody loves sports. It’s a universal language of hope."

With files from The Edmonton Journal