meet the individuals of
project ARC!
project ARC!
EMMA
Role: Mia Age: 15 Things that Help Me Shine: Dancing, acting, singing, theatre, school, spending time with family and friends, and my pets Words that Shine: “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.” - Helen Keller “You muse do the things you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt “To those accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” - Anonymous People who Shine: My family, Greta Thunberg, Emma Watson, Michelle Obama, Emily Dickinson, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lin Manuel Miranda, Janice Cruddas I'm Grateful for: Access to an education, food and clean water, shelter, and the privilege of being born in a part of world that is safe and stable. I am also extremely grateful to have a beautiful, wonderful, loving family. |
EMMA Role: Sam Age: 18 Things that Help Me Shine: swimming, singing, acting, Netflix, dancing, reading, and music. Words that Shine: "We shall never know all the good that a simple smile will do" - Mother Teresa "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not" - Dr. Seuss "Friends are people who know you really well and like you anyway" - Greg Tamblyn People who Shine: Among many, my parents, my family, Mother Teresa, my friends, and so many fictional characters I'm Grateful for: my family, my friends, living in Canada, and too many more things to name. |
FIONA
Role: Brooke Age: 15 Things that Help Me Shine: project ARC, Acting, school, reading, writing, music, art, playing basketball, spending time with my friends + family and helping others. Words that Shine: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss "You have to be odd to be number one" - Dr.Seuss "Never love anyone who treats you like you're ordinary" -Oscar Wilde "If my life wasn't funny it would just be true, and that is unacceptable."-Carrie Fisher. "Be crazy, be stupid, be silly, be weird, be whatever. Because life is too short to be anything but happy." - Unknown People who Shine: My friends, My family, everyone in project ARC and anyone who ever tried to make a difference. I'm Grateful for: Food, water, to live in a safe country like Canada, freedom of speech, school, my friends, my family, books, project ARC and being able to do what I love. |
FAITH Role: Taylor Age: 13 Things that Help Me Shine: Playing my instruments for my family, my friends and other community members, singing, acting, being in the student advisory council, volunteering at school and in the community, spending time with family/friends, and, of course, project ARC. Words that Shine: “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” -Helen Keller "Flops are a part of life's menu and I've never been a girl to miss out on any of the courses." - Rosalind Russell People who Shine: My family, my friends, Stephen Hawking, Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Helen Keller and Viola Desmond. . I'm Grateful for: My family, my home, my friends, artificial colour free food, my supportive school, the medical system that has given me the opportunity to walk unassisted, having a safe place to live, access to clean water, project ARC, strawberry Frappuccinos, music, and the people who make me laugh until I cry. |
AIDAN Role: Bailey Age: 14 Things that Help Me Shine: My school, paddling, playing the piano, soccer, singing, hanging out with family and friends, having a goal and working towards it. Words that Shine: “Don’t worry, be happy.” - Bobby McFerrin “You don’t lose until you quit” “Try again" People who Shine: My family and my friends, Gandhi, Malala, my athletic coaches, my educators, anyone who has helped the world in any way, shape, or form. I'm Grateful for: Supportive family and friends, my education, paddling, singing, soccer, piano, knowing that when I wake up tomorrow, I will be safe |
DEMERECE Role: Jamie Age: 13 Things that Help Me Shine: Acting, spending time with loved ones & friends, School, Piano, and music. Words that shine: “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light” -Albus Dumbledore “Be enough for yourself. The rest of the world can wait” “Some people are worth melting for” -Olaf People who Shine: My parents, my friends, J. K. Rowling, Jenny Han I’m Grateful for: Living in a safe country, being able to have an education, having parents that care for me. |
CLAIRE Role: Morgan Age: 13 Things that Help Me Shine: Basketball, singing, music, being with family and friends, project ARC, reading. Words that Shine: “Water is really sacred. Water is life. Mother Earth doesn’t need us, we need her…”-Autumn Peltier “Its not the absence of fear. Its overcoming it.”- Emma Watson People who Shine: Friends and family, Greta Thunberg, Malala, Emma Watson, Anne Frank, Janice Cruddas, Michelle Obama, Autumn Peltier. I'm Grateful for: All the people in my life who support me and care for me. The groups I’m part of and the wonderful school I go to. |
JACKSON Role: Jess Age: 13 Things that Help Me Shine: Gymnastics, music, volleyball, acting, school, English class and project ARC! Words that Shine: "Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." – Walt Whitman “It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” -Amelia Barr People who Shine: My mother and father, and sister, Janice Cruddas, Elon Musk and my cat! I'm Grateful for: My family, my home and the life that is personal to me and no one else! |
VERA
Role: Riley Age: 11 Things that Help Me Shine: Soccer, being a junior life guard, dancing, singing, reading about mythology and history, acting, project ARC, travelling, & badminton. Words that Shine: "Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander." - Yehuda Bauer "Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be" - Mother of Clementine Paddleford People who Shine: My family, teachers, coaches, Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Tessa Mendel, Shawnee Gregory, Janice Cruddas, Kathy Kacer. I'm Grateful for: I am grateful for a safe place to live, safe drinking water, education, parents who can work in jobs of their choice at a fair wage, and being able to have beliefs that I am not punished for. |
AMELIA Role: Swing / Assistant Choreographer Age: 21 Things that Help Me Shine: project ARC, spending time with family/friends, my photography business, my job, my school, singing, acting, and volunteering, Words that Shine: "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better, it's not." - Dr. Seuss People who Shine: JanJan Cruddas, my family, my friends, Terry Fox, Mama Alice, K'NAAN, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Helen Keller and Mother Teresa. I'm Grateful for: My family, the roof over my head, my friends, gluten free food, the ability to receive an education, freedom of speech, clean water, my family’s safety, my job, the opportunities that I have received through project ARC, strawberry lemonades, music, my camera and the optimism in my life. |
HAZEL Role: Swing Age: 21 Things that Help Me Shine: Computers, books, games, friends, science, music, project ARC. Words that Shine: "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." ~Attributed to the Talmud "That which can be destroyed by the truth should be." ~P.C. Hodgell People who Shine: My family, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Vienna Teng, Autumn Peltier, Miss Major Griffin-Gracey. I'm Grateful for: My family, my friends, project ARC, being able to live in Canada. |
JANICE
Role: Writer / Director / Choreographer Age: 56! Things that Help Me Shine: Life-long education, human rights, being responsible, singing, writing, baking, playing guitar, the library, trying. Words that Shine: "You're the voice, try and understand it. Make a noise and make it clear." - from "You're the Voice" by John Farnham “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” - Anne Frank "There's a dream in the future. There's a struggle that we have yet to win. Use that pride in our hearts to lift us up until tomorrow, 'cause just to sit still would be a sin." - from "I Know Where I've Been" from Hairspray "Your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man's nose begins." - Zechariah Chafee People who Shine: My fellow project ARC peeps (especially my amazing, devoted girls, Emma and Amelia, and my beloved, roadie husband, Jim) and every person who makes good choices in the face of insecurity, cruelty and despair. In some way, we can grow from all people but we can grow the most from the people who shine brightly, sharing their light. I'm Grateful for: The people who are my dawn, my sunset, and everything in between - my family; too many other people and things to list; and the presence, that is always with me, guiding me to try my very best. |
EMMA Role: Choreographer Age: 24 Things that Help Me Shine: theatre, writing music and poetry, volunteering, reading, my family, my friends, and making others smile. Words that Shine: "Happiness is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose." - Helen Keller People who Shine: Janice Cruddas, my family, Autumn Peltier, Harriet Tubman, Julia "Butterfly" Hill, Nellie McClung, Nelson Mandela, Mama Alice, Mattie Stepanek, Malala Yousafzai, Iqbal Masih, and Terry Fox. I'm Grateful for: family, safe water, education, health, the beautiful Earth, having a place to call home, food, friends, amazing opportunities like project ARC, hope, and the greatest gift: love. |