Youth Inspiration

Taming of the Dragon


Taming of the Dragon (TOTD) is a competition for high school students focused on solving local or international issues to bring about positive social change. It is a 2017 Rotary District Conference initiative with District Governor Neil Phillips.



Program Objectives:

  • Encourage young people to make a difference and think outside-of-the-box
  • Increase awareness about Rotary, District 7070, and our initiatives
  • Utilize Rotary business professional talent to mentor youth


2017 Focus

Meet the Teams

After online submissions, all teams were invited to a phone interview with a Rotarian judge, an external judge, and a Rotaractor faciliator. Students were scored based on a variety of criteria such as the problem, solution, connection to Rotary’s Areas of Focus.

With that, 5 teams pitched at the 2017 District Rotaract Conference and all proceeded to summer training sessions. Of which, 3 teams will be proceeding to the finals to battle it out in front of conference attendees and judges for $1,000 CAD cash prize to fund their project!



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TEAM TSURU

Youth for Youth

Youth for Youth is a grassroots organization that focuses on building the social skills of 5 to 8 year olds through immersive and fun workshops.



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Team Inspire2Cure

The Happy Project

The Happy Project is a social initiative that focuses on the mental well-being of hospitalized youth diagnosed with cancer in our community by distributing “Busy Bags” customized to each youth’s age group and singing to kids.  Our mission is to inspire, empower, and make their day better from small acts of kindness.



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Team Solutions

Rotary Axis

App Axis is a mobile application which centralizes crowd funding, training, and inter-club communications for all Rotary groups.



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2017 Judging Panel


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Valarie Wafer

Rotarian, Rotary Club of Collingwood South Georgian Bay

Past District Governor, District 7070 Rotary

President’s Representative, Rotary International

Rotary International Assembly Trainer 2017-2018

Rotary International Convention Toronto 2018,
Host Organizing Committee

Board of Governors, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Past Franchise Owner, Tim Hortons

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Kevin M. Duguay

Past President, Rotary Club of Peterborough, District 7010

Board Member, Rotary Club of Peterborough, District 7010

Rotary Local Lager Beer – Project Lead

Rotary Youth Exchange Host Parent (with Wife Barbara and family)

Member Canadian Institute of Planners

Member, Ontario Professional Planners Institute

Member, Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce

Member, CESO – Canadian Executive Service Organization


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Anthony Siu

President, Rotaract Club of Ryerson University

Project Developer, United Way Toronto & York Region

Member, Rotary International Convention
Rotaract Pre-Convention Gala Committee

Consultant, Freelance Charity

Student, Ryerson University

 

 



Taming of the Dragon Team

Huge thanks to our support team in working with the high school student teams to ensure they are ready to go on November 4, 2017!!!

View the Rotary Uncorked full schedule here.


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Daniel Je
Team Connect‘s Manager

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Carolina Rodriguez
Team Tsuru‘s Manager

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Preethu Kaduppil
Team Inspire2Cure‘s Manager


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Weiting Xu
Rotaractor Program Facilitator


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Virginia O’Reilly
Rotarian Program Facilitator

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Dishan Ratnajothi
Rotaractor Program Facilitator


Special thanks go out to:

The following individuals have spent time with the students in providing feedback, connecting opportunities to pitch, and delivering guest speaker workshops. They acted in the form of mentor, judge, speaker, consultant, organizer, and even more.
Without their assistance, we would not be able to deliver our summer training for the 2017 Taming of the Dragon program. They are just so awesome!

  • 2017 Rotary District 7070 Conference Committee
  • 2017 Rotaract District 7070 Conference Committee
  • Anisa Nazir (Medical Student, Research & Member, Rotaract Club of Toronto)
  • Charles Chee (Member, Rotary Club of York & Co-founder, Qing Bile Therapeutics Inc.)
  • Daniel Lim (Founder, The Profound Ideation & Chair, Free Code Camp at Markham & Richmond Hill)
  • Hadia Raheel (President, Rotary Club of York)
  • Iosif Ciosa (Rotarian, Rotary Club of Forest Hill)
  • Jasmine Jasani (Past Rotaractor, Rotaract Club of York University)
  • John Liu (Business Development Manager, Awake Chocolate)
  • Meghan Yunick (Licensed Nurse)
  • Melisa Okanovic (Past President, Rotary Club of York University & Past District Rotaract Representative, District 7070)
  • Patti Wright (Rotarian, Rotary Club of Toronto West)
  • Valarie Wafer (Past District Governor, Rotary Club of Whitby)
  • Vishal Bollu (Data Engineer, Freckle IoT)

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