Office of Public Affairs Acadia University Wolfville, Nova Scotia  B0P 1X0 (902) 585-1362  Fax (902) 585-1072 News Release For Release:July 18, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Acadia Shads focus on crime prevention

(Wolfville, NS) – Sixty top senior high school students from across Canada and from as far away as Scotland have arrived in Wolfville to attend the 13th annual Shad Valley program held at Acadia University.

For the month of July, Shad Valley participants will work in teams to create an innovative product idea focusing on crime prevention.  The winning team will present their project at the Royal Bank Shad Cup, a national competition held in October that showcases the winning product ideas from each of the 10 Shad Valley campuses.

“Basically, I’m here to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life,” said Mathieu Barras, a high school student from Sackville, New Brunswick.

Mathieu’s group is developing a product that deals with the prevention of bike theft and has received enthusiastic support from Wolfville merchants, one of whom inquired if the group had patented their idea.  “Patenting is an idea we’re exploring,” said Mathieu.

“This is the most outstanding group I have come across, in all my Shad experience, in terms of attention to detail and resourcefulness,” said Peter Northrop, program director for Shad Valley Acadia.

The Shad Valley program encourages top senior high school students to create innovative new technology ideas and develop a directional business plan. Students are placed in groups of 10 – 12 and each person is responsible for developing a different aspect of the project.

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Katie MacInnis, from Antigonish, explained, “we had to spend time working together to know how everyone worked before we started our project.”  The Shad Valley program is unique because it integrates many subjects while also teaching creative problem solving, effective communication, and teamwork.

Guest speakers for the program have included Bruce MacNaughton, president of Prince Edward Island Preserve, Inspector Andrew Latham, the RCMP officer responsible for co-ordinating the recovery effort of the Swissair disaster and native spiritual leader Gkisedtunamoogk, who gave a captivating presentation on the fisheries dispute.

Acadia Shads will participate in an overnight camping expedition to Nova Scotia’s beautiful Kejimikujik Park, explore Peggy’s Cove, and will join the tall ships celebration as they sail from Halifax Harbour.

Acadia University is home to the acclaimed Acadia Advantage Program that makes notebook computers available to Acadia students, which enables them to connect to the Internet from any location on campus.  This exciting program makes Acadia an ideal host institution for the renowned Shad Valley program.

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For more information, please contact:
Sheri Woodland                      Debbie Kiely
Communications Officer         Outreach Program Coordinator
Acadia University                   Acadia University
Phone: (902) 585-1362           Phone: (902) 585-1171

Shelley Rudd
National Communications Coordinator
Shad International
Phone: (516) 884-8844 ext. 234
 
 

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Published by: The Office of Public Affairs Last revised: July 18,  2000 URL: http://www.acadiau.ca/whatsnew/newsrelease/shadcrimepreventionrelease.htm