The recipient of the 2017 YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Prairie Award of Promise is a Grade 12 student from Niverville Collegiate Institute.

Abigail Olfert was nominated by a teacher at the high school for being a passionate leader, artist, and musician who is active in her school and community. Olfert says she was honoured to have been nominated and remembers being in euphoria the rest of the school day.

Olfert notes she is an editor for the yearbook, on the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council, as well as involved in sports, music, art, and the school drama. 

"I'm part of the art committee and we're doing this first world crisis piece where it's a traveling exhibit going around the schools and helping the students have an experience with different problems around the world," explains Olfert. "My piece is called Unhealthy and it talks about how often, here, we have an unhealthy body image of ourselves."

Olfert says the art piece has two aspects, the first is a mirror where a girl is seeing a distorted body image of herself, the second is a girl who is unhealthy and malnourished because of the environment she's living in.

She notes she teaches art at This Little Light Artistry where her class is a group of young girls. Olfert notes, while creating art, they empower each other and work to create an environment of positivity.

"We do a lot of freedom projects, so they have to leave how to let go of everything. That was really hard for me when I first started, just letting things turn out how they want and being really free because I like structured things. Then we just create, make all these different projects, boost each other up. It's a very filling experience."

During the awards banquet on Wednesday Olfert says it was a surprise when they called her name as the winning recipient because she didn't think she would win.

"They have little bios and videos of different people and the other nominees, they're incredible. Just such great things they're doing in their communities and in their schools. They all deserved [an award]."

Olfert says her plan after high school is to attend Bible college in England and then go onto university.

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Niverville teen's passion results in nomination