Youth Services & Programs

2023 Spirit of Youth Program

The Spirit of Youth is awarded to Whitecourt youth who are devoted to helping others within the community and who display leadership and dedication in their involvement in programs, activities, and all they do. By recognizing these successes in youth, we are supporting them in their pursuit to build developmental assets. Highlight these youth by nominating them for a Spirit of Youth Award. 

The Spirit of Youth recognizes exemplary youth citizens that display:

• Advocacy
• Leadership
• Community Engagement
• Arts and Culture
• Perseverance
• Peer Support Within Their Community

Nominations for the 2023 Spirit of Youth Program will be accepted until Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

• 2023 Nomination Form

Congratulations 2022 Spirit of Youth Award Recipients!

Celebrate the 2022 Spirit of Youth Award recipients with the Town of Whitecourt and Woodlands County! The Spirit of Youth is awarded to Whitecourt youth who are devoted to helping others within the community and who display leadership and dedication in their involvement in programs, activities, and all that they do. Congratulations to our 2022 Spirit of Youth Award recipients!

Annually, the Whitecourt Youth Advisory Committee promotes the Mayor For A Day initiative. Youth in grades 6 through 12 are asked to submit their idea for how Whitecourt can be improved for the chance to shadow the Mayor and be Mayor For The Day.   

What would you do?  Let us know what you would do if you were MAYOR FOR A DAY and what improvements you would like to see made.  Submissions must include a completed application form and an essay attachment.  Two winners will be selected by Town Council based on a panel recommendation, and will be awarded a prize and declared MAYOR FOR A DAY on a specified date.   

Applications to the 2023 Mayor For A Day initiative are no longer being accepted. Information on the 2024 program will be posted in the fall of 2023.

Submissions can be emailed, faxed, mailed or dropped off at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre.  Submissions must include a completed application form (linked below) and an essay attachment.

• Application Form

The Town of Whitecourt believes in the importance of involving youth in municipal government.  This committee of community youth liaises with Town Council representatives to ensure the needs and voice of other community youth are communicated. Youth are also responsible for promoting awareness of youth services and programs in their schools.  Youth appointed to the Committee who fulfill their year commitments are awarded a bursary of $500 for their service which will be provided upon proof of enrollment to a post-secondary institution or program.

To be a member of Whitecourt's Youth Advisory Committee you must be between 13 and 18 years of age as of December 31 of the current year. The application period has now closed for the 2022/2023 term.  Watch for information in the summer of 2023 on the next application round.

A collaborative effort with emergency services (RCMP, fire and ambulance) and health services (health promotion) that endorses five key messages while promoting smart risk and decision-making in youth.

A school-based program that teams community adult volunteers with a school aged child, fostering success in the child physically, socially and academically through fun weekly activities.  Training is provided for volunteers. For more information on the program contact the Youth Development Coordinator at 780-778-8755.

• Canadian Tire Jumpstart - A community chapter that identifies and provides financial support allowing financially disadvantaged children ages 4-18 the opportunity to participate in organized sport and recreational activities.  
• KidSport - A local committee of volunteers raises funds to provide financial support to children 0-18 in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport.

For more information, or to obtain an application form, please contact the FCSS Program Coordinator at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre at 780-778-3637.