Chloe Reitlo is moving up the royal podium, one piano lesson, camping trip and badminton practice at a time.
The Hapnot Collegiate Grade 11 student received her Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award during a ceremony in Winnipeg on Nov. 15. Reitlo began participating in the program in 2016, after attending a presentation about the initiative.
Founded in the United Kingdom in 1956, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program was established by Prince Philip to encourage youth to set goals, work towards achieving them and be recognized for their commitment. The initiative is run in more othan 140 countries around the world.
Last fall, Reitlo received an award for reaching the bronze stage of the Duke of Edinburgh program. She said there was only one big change between preparation for her bronze and silver honour; the amount of work.
“Between the bronze and silver, it was almost immediate. I went from getting my bronze and going right into my silver, so it was just about keeping everything up,” she said.
For the silver award, Reitlo had to continue progression in three different disciplines, each for an hour a week: skill development, physical recreation and an outdoor expedition, or what the program calls an “adventurous journey.”
Skill development has taken several different forms for Reitlo, including in piano lessons and other musical training. She meets her physical recreation requirement by taking part in high school sports, particularly badminton, curling and golf, and going on long walks in the summer months.
Reitlo’s first adventurous journey took her on a camping trip to Alberts Lake in 2017. This year, she decided to take a bolder step, going from Lake Athapapuskow through Whitefish Lake and on to Mikinagan Falls, shooting through rapids along the way.
“It was amazing. Just going through the rapids was really cool, then actually seeing the falls was also amazing,” she said.
For a student to receive the bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, they need to complete 13 hours of training in each category. That number doubles for silver award applicants.
Reitlo plans on continuing through the Duke of Edinburgh program to the gold stage. In order to do that, she needs to do 52 hours of all three components over 52 weeks, including a special gold project.
She has a head start, however; she’s already completed that last part.
“I have to do something productive for three to five days. I’ve done that. For that, I went to International Music Camp at the Peace Gardens,” said Reitlo, who plays both the piano and oboe in Hapnot school bands.
Since beginning the program, Reitlo said some of the requirements have been challenging, particularly the outdoor components.
“One of the most drastic things is learning how hard it is to be in the bush, especially for three nights, which is what I have to do for my gold. Not only that, but having to cook, set up camp, then move,” she said.
“You need to learn how to stick with it. The award is all about staying consistent and sticking with it, not having a lot of huge gaps in between and staying on task and on time.”
