On Tuesday, March 21, Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School hosted a school assembly to celebrate student Jillian Johnson, who was recognized as the Rotary Club of North Bay’s Rotary4Kids Ambassador!

Jillian, who is in the second grade at Holy Cross, was born with a rare brain condition called periventricular leukomalacia, also known as PVL for short. It’s a condition caused by a lack of oxygen, or blood flow, to the area of the brain that surrounds the ventricles. This condition has not affected her love for school or learning, however.

The assembly was put on by Holy Cross Principal Dan Seguin in partnership with Rotary4Kids Chair Gisele Lynch, with special guests including Kevin Oschefski from Country 90.5 FM and NPSC Board Chaplain Father Joseph di Viveiros.

“Our Holy Cross community is so proud of her for being the Rotary4Kids Ambassador for North Bay and area region” Principal Seguin said after the event. “We all love you, Jillian, and as you say, ‘It’s cool to be kind!’”

In a morning filled with dancing, singing, a slideshow and even a Jillian-centric rap, the morning was summarized by what Kevin Oschefski outlined in his address.

“It’s about helping others” Kevin O said to the gym filled with Holy Cross students and staff. Oschefski hosts a radio-a-thon in part with the Rotary Club of North Bay’s fundraiser, entitled “Kev’s Kids”, an event where the radio DJ will be live, on air, for 29 straight hours in hopes of raising funds and awareness to this local campaign. The radio-a-thon event will take place on-air, at 5:30am on Thursday, March 30, and will end on March 31 at 10:00am.

The festivities within Holy Cross continue for the rest of the month, including a designated hot dog day, a soup sale, a special pink shirt day (Jillian’s favourite colour) and a Dance-A-Thon day on March 30th to help fundraise for the cause.

For more information regarding Jillian as an Ambassador or to find out how to donate to the Rotary4Kids fundraiser, please visit https://rotary4kids.ca/jillian-our-ambassador.