Prescott youth reaches Bronze level of Duke of Edinburgh Award

Posted Jan 5, 2012 By Jill Hudson

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EMC News - Bailey Whitehouse, 15, has reached the Bronze Standard of the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Award.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is "a self-directed development program for young Canadians age 14-25 years old," according to the award's website. The four areas of the program are community service, skills, physical recreation and adventurous journey, there are three levels of the award - gold, silver and bronze.

"Yes, extremely proud," said Bailey of her achievement. "It's a great achievement for me to win this award. The fear of failing drives me - I want to keep pushing to see how much I can achieve."

Capt. Scott Fraser, her commanding officer, presented her with the award. Bailey has received her bronze level and is half-way through working on her silver level of the award.

The captain called Bailey a role model for cadets. He said the award mirrors the core values of the cadets, "To lead, to serve and advance. She has done all of those things - because she is advancing her training and she is learning as she goes. She keeps focused on her goals, which is really good for a young person," he said.

Her competitiveness helps spur her forward. "Bailey is a member of the cadet range team. It's kind of an ironic thing - we have females who are out-shooting our males. She's one of the main reasons!" said Fraser.

Bailey started her Duke of Edinburgh in Girl Guides in April 2011 but transferred the award to the cadets. She is with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets 661 LT WF Sharpe of Prescott.

Captain Fraser said the gold level of the award is generally handed out by a member of the Royal Family or the Governor General. Since Prince Charles and Camilla are coming to Canada next year it gives Bailey an extra-tight deadline to complete the gold level if she wants to be given the award by royalty. Fraser said part of their stop will be handing out the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. "He will definitely be handing them out at Parliament Hill at one point during his visit," he said.

Bailey needs to do two camps and finish off her physical activity to complete her silver level and hopes to complete her silver level by April 2012.

Bailey's mom, Shirley Whitehouse, is proud of her daughter. In an email she wrote of her daughter, "We are truly blessed with her talents and achievements as she is a very hard worker. She is a go-getter and she doesn't like to disappoint people, she wants to succeed."

Bailey has earned many awards as a girl guide including the Community Spirit Award in 2008, Lady Baden Powell, in Pathfinders she received the Canada Cord. She earned the Environmental Award with her unit and Great Kids of the Community in 2010. She competes in marksmanship and drill competition. "I am very proud of our very gifted girl," said Mrs. Whitehouse.

Award recipients complete 15 hours of community service over six months. Bailey has volunteered 270 hours as of September - with 97 hours at the Royal Canadian Legion assisting with meals on Thursdays and special events when needed, she helps out with the cadets with tags, assists at Girl Guide meetings, special events and camps, Bailey helps the Oddfellows with meals and special events, she helps the CPHC with tray favours and the diners' club with crafts for the trays and tables. She helped pick up garbage from the ditches in Prescott and Augusta. Bailey volunteered at the Spencerville Fair and helps out at Food for All Food Bank, when needed.

For the skills component Bailey needed to complete six months of training. She learned how to play the piano, lay bricks - and helped build two large decks, she has learned marksmanship (acquiring the distinguished classification), archery and paintball and she learned how to renovate a house.

The physical recreation component requires 30 hours over 15 weeks - Bailey has done 54 hours in 15 weeks. She loves to bike, hike in the woods, canoe, swim and archery.

For the adventure/leadership component Bailey helped run a Girl Guides' camp.

"I had to set the camp up, register all the girls, make sure there was enough activities for the weekend and make sure there was enough supplies - food etcetera for the programs. I taught basic first-aid to the girls with the making of a mini first-aid kit," said Bailey. Her second adventure trip was with the Cadets FTX camp. "I learned how to survive in the woods, I learned how to build snares, signal fires and a lean-to." She wrote reports about each camp including what she learned, activities done.

She encourages people to get involved. "These programs are a lot of fun - they may seem hard or different at the start but if you stick to it then they are a lot of fun," said Bailey.

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award was founded in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The award came to Canada in 1963 and runs in 130 countries globally. So far, almost seven million youth have participated in the award.




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