Antoine Garwah was honoured this week at city hall with the title of Senior of the Year for 2017.
Mayor Steve Black read proudly from a prepared statement.
"Antoine is well known locally for his love of science, and as president and CEO of Science Timmins. He's a graduate in electrical engineering from the University of Montreal. In his early career he worked in the industry in different capacities, but due to his love of science and working with youth, he became an innovative teacher and science department head for CSCD (Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grand-Rivieres) in Timmins."
"He has always encouraged his students to participate in their personal learning experiences. As a consultant for the Ministry of Education of Ontario in science and computers, he has dedicated his career to promoting science and technology to students and educators," read Black.
Garwah has been involved with Science Timmins for over 40 years, as a science events organizer and chair of the organization. He co-chaired the Canada Wide Science Fair which Timmins hosted in 1998.
Antoine Garwah captivating youngsters with a dry ice experiment at Science Village. Photo by Frank Giorno for TimminsTodayHe has previously been a board member of the Timmins Family Counselling Centre, and the Timmins Public Library. He remains a very active member of the Timmins and District Hospital Foundation.
In 2015, Garwah led a team of dedicated people to establish Science Village, an interactive science and technology centre directly behind city hall. It has hosted numerous science events since its inception ranging from the 'Halloween Science Spooktacular' for kids, to 'Bazinga!' nights for adults, where teams of tipsy grown-ups experiment their way through several rounds of science related challenges before one team hoists the championship trophy and has their names immortalized on a plaque.
"His mission today is to continue sharing his passion for science with people of all ages. On behalf of the minister of Senior Affairs, I'm proud to present the 2017 Senior of the Year Award to Antoine Garwah by the municipality of the City of Timmins in recognition of your outstanding contributions to your community," said Black, who asked Garwah to come forward to receive a framed certificate.
He was met with thunderous applause and was very gracious in accepting the award, but was able to avoid having to give a speech, which some previous winners have opted to do.
