At the age of 21 years, Quentin is without question the backbone of recreation, youth programming, leadership and development in his tiny community of Sanikiluaq. Nominated by Recreation and Parks Association Nunavut who first met Quentin two years ago at the Get Happy Summer Day Camp training.
Quiet in nature, he has an aura of confidence and a strong desire to make a difference in his community. He started as a community leader/supervisor for the program and the Hamlet of Sanikiluaq was so impressed with his work that they offered him a full-time position as the Assistance Recreation Coordinator. In late 2019, Quentin became the Recreation Coordinator for Sanikiluaq.
Quentin has led the most successful summer day camp program in Nunavut in each of the last two summers. A supervisor in this program to five youth, he is aware of the necessity of being a role model to the youth staff, but also of the importance of providing quality programs to children in the community. In 2020, Sanikiluaq won the Get Happy Summer Day Camp ParticipACTION Challenge….this program was supported through a ParticipACTION Community Challenge grant. Quentin has also led the LTW – After School Program in Sanikiluaq…working with youth leaders to implement quality after school programs for children in both 2019 and 2020. Both of these initiatives are RPAN programs…and both are delivered with great success because of Quentin.
In 2019, Quentin was amongst the first group of recipients of the Recreation North – Youth Leadership Certificate. In the fall of 2019, Quentin was awarded one of three RPAN scholarships to complete the Recreation North – Recreation Leader Certificate. He has successfully completed 50% of the required Learning Events. He was also part of a group of youth who worked with consultants developing the new Government of Nunavut SPAR (Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation) Policy, ensuring the voice of young Nunavummiut is heard.
At a young age, his greatest passion is recreation, knowing the impact it has in his small community. When once asked “why it’s important to be a positive role model for youth in his community:, he modestly replied “youth are looking up to us, they will follow by example; they will one day be the role models, and they are our future…we need to ensure they have opportunities to be the next leaders.” His dream for the future for youth…to one day have a professional athlete come from his small community!” Not bad for someone just 21 years of age.
