Forest Jones is a grade 12 student here at Leo Hayes. You probably know her as one of the most involved members of our Student Representative Council (SRC). Last year she served as secretary and vice president alongside President Benjamin Durrett. As of now, she is continuing her role as secretary while also serving as co-president alongside Dominique Drost and Julia StPierre.
Forest became a member of our general SRC during her tenth-grade year. She started attending leadership conferences and planning events and quickly started craving a bigger role. When asked what her biggest goal was concerning SRC this year, Forest told me that she would like to hold an indigenous awareness week. Similar to the mental health week SRC held last year, she plans to invite different members of our indigenous communities to speak and have presentations to educate students.
Though she is not one hundred percent certain about her post-secondary plans, Forest is interested in sciences and would like to attend McGill University, located in Quebec.
Outside of school, Forest is interested in nature and travel. These two passions will come together to form the trip of a lifetime when she takes on Mount Kilimanjaro on the 27th of December.
Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, is dormant volcano with several different volcanic cones. Standing 5,895 meters above sea level, it is the tallest mountain in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world.
Alongside her on this weeklong adventure will be her father, mentoring her with his knowledge from his prior mountain climbing experience.
Forest tells me that she has endured around 5 months of training in preparation. This includes intense cardio and weight training.
Despite all of her knowledge and preparation, she still fears altitude sickness. However, that fear is overpowered by her excitement. She told me that she’s most excited to visit the town along the mountain, the views, and to meet the people who work on the mountain, people she calls “all stars.”
Though climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is a personal goal of hers, this journey is also part of her Personal Interest project. Not only will she be accomplishing this great feat, but she will also be raising money for Leo Hayes’ Feed the Lions program.
Though she just joined the program this year, Forest has been passionate about student hunger for years. Her goal is to raise 10,000 dollars and hopes to get a donations page posted on the school website soon.
We wish Forest luck on her adventure of a lifetime!