APEX Youth Awards open for nominations

By Cal Braid
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On Feb. 13, the Horizon School Division announced that after a four year hiatus, the APEX Youth Awards are back and now accepting nominations. Three $1,000 bursaries will be awarded to the top nominees.

 Last December, Southern Alberta Newspapers reported that Taber town council reviewed a letter from Dorthea Mills of the APEX Committee in which Mills gave a brief refresher on the history of the awards and how the committee planned to move forward with the program.

 In 2002, the Rotary Club and Taber Times launched the awards, and in spite of committee and organizational changes the project remained committed to recognizing local youth for 20 years. In 2021, the awards continued with a virtual Zoom presentation due to COVID restrictions. Since then, the awards have been on hiatus because the volunteer opportunities diminished as restrictions lingered on.

 Once the COVID scare subsided, “(We) have kind of got back into the swing of things, and kids are busy again. And we thought it would be really great to be able to bring it back where we can recognize them again,” Mills told the Times.

 Mills said the awards “were created to recognize individuals that represented the best qualities in our youth from Taber and area; youth who unselfishly give of themselves in the service of others and who have shown resilience when faced with adversity.”

 However, the committee wants to transition to handing out bursaries instead of having a gala evening. The committee decided that the cost of hosting the gala evening would deplete its funds, making the awards “a one and done event,” Mills said. The committee members are Mills, Wilco Tymensen, Sheila Laqua, Jodie Gross, Pat Bremner, and Henk DeVlieger.

 Though the APEX Committee consists of a number of Horizon School Division employees, the awards are not related to any school or division. Nominees aged six to 20 must be from the Town of Taber or M.D., making students from outside counties ineligible.

 Mills said the committee and its major sponsors will hand out three $1,000 bursary awards each year and she hopes to recognize all the nominees with a certificate and a nomination gift (hoodie, backpack, etc.) She said students can’t apply for themselves but need to be nominated. The nomination process will conclude with the winners being selected by an anonymous panel of judges.

 Taber town council previously committed to donating $1,500 to APEX each year, but approved Mills’ proposal to change from a gala to bursary format.

 The school division directs questions regarding the nomination process to Dorthea Mills. Nomination packages are available at http://www.horizon.ab.ca. Completed nomination packages need to be received by Mills by 4 p.m. on March 31, 2025. Please email the completed packages to dorthea.mills@horizon.ab.ca.