Local Elementary Students Shine at One Future Finals Hosted by Enactus Lambton College
SARNIA, May 23, 2025 – It was a celebration of bold ideas and meaningful action as teams of local elementary students gathered at Lambton College to pitch their community-driven projects to a panel of judges at this year’s One Future Finals.
Organized by Enactus Lambton, the event brought together Grade 7 and 8 students from across the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (SCCDSB) who competed through live rounds of presentations for the chance to win cash prizes.
The top honour was awarded to PE McGibbon’s Alia Prior, Ayla Seabrook, Ava Harris, and Victoria Brazeau, who gave the judges a reason to smile with their project “Dental Heroes.” The innovative initiative promotes dental hygiene awareness and access among local youth. In addition to partnering with local dental professionals to help raise awareness on the importance of dental health among their peers, the student group also created a “dental pantry” filled with donated supplies, an initiative they expanded to multiple schools across LKDSB. With plans to sell their own brand of dental floss and reinvest the profits back into their project, the Dental Heroes exemplified the One Future mission of inspiring youth-driven solutions to real-world challenges.
“It's incredibly inspiring to see such creativity and passion from our young students as they tackle real-world challenges through the One Future competition,” said Matt Sanders, Experiential Learning Coordinator, LKDSB. “The success of PE McGibbon’s Dental Heroes and all participating teams demonstrates the power of experiential learning and the bright future our students have as community leaders and innovators.”
"All of the projects we saw today are incredible examples of young people caring about their local or global community, and taking action to make a change for the better,” said Chris St. Amand, Experiential Learning Coordinator, SCCDSB. “It's inspiring to see students caring about the future world they will live in. The skills, empathy, and poise the students will take from this One Future experience enhances the already amazing things happening in their classrooms."
The One Future Project is a growing initiative led by Enactus Lambton College aimed at fostering entrepreneurial thinking and social justice in youth. Over the past year, the Enactus team visited 11 classrooms across both school boards, working with 274 students through a 10-week program of hour-long workshops. The goal was for students to identify a social or environmental issue, connect it to one of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and develop an actionable plan to drive change. In total, the students raised more than $7,600 for local causes, directly benefiting their communities.
“Enactus Lambton’s One Future Project is a true celebration of innovation, compassion, and community impact,” said Rob Kardas, President & CEO, Lambton College. “We are proud to champion such an inspiring initiative and work hand-in-hand with our school board partners to empower the next generation of leaders.”
The final event, which took place Thursday, May 22 at Lambton College, saw the top two teams from each class compete Enactus-style, presenting their ideas to a panel of community judges. Runner-up honours went to a team from St. Michael’s – Ivy Howell, Leah Griffiths, Gia Cantalini, Ella Medeiros, and Julia Yarkovsky – for their project “Ballin’ for a Better Tomorrow,” a 3-on-3 basketball fundraiser to support the production of flower bombs, designed to attract pollinators, and sold locally to enhance the health of the local ecosystem.
The event was sponsored by Bluewater Power who generously provided $1,000 in prize money, of which $750 was awarded to the first-place team and $250 to the runners-up to help advance their initiatives and scale their impact.
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