Sara Devau
For the Calgary Herald
Ash haque stands head and shoulders above the crowd, both literally and figuratively.
At six foot five, the Class Act for Sir Winston Churchill is an integral player on the school's basketball team.
He coaches two community teams, and has proven himself as a towering presense in the school's IB diploma program and school community.
Born in Bangladesh and raised in New Zealand, Haque moved to Calgary six years ago.
His experiences have given him an understanding of global needs.
In October, he helped organize a lunch-hour fundraiser which raised more than $4,000 for the victims of the Kashmir Earthquake.
A head-shaving fundraiser he led at Sir Winston Churchill raised more than $16,000 for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. More than 35 students and nine teachers got their heads shaved in front of most students at the school.
"I saw a need for action within our school and decided that I would try to organize a large fundraiser for a very good cause," he sais.
David MacGregog teaches Social Studies and acts acts as the school's student activities co-ordinator.
In collecting nominations and feedback for the school's Class Act, he was overwhelmed with the support Haque received.
"Ash had a broad range of support, and I believe it's because he's involved in a lot of areas of the school."
Those areas include being a member of the student leadership team, part of the school yearbook committee, and a contributor to the school newspaper.
He is involved in math club, political science club, and the Youth Volunteer Corps.
In his spare time he designs web pages and dabbles in computer programming. He works full time in the summers, most recently as a sales associate for Sport Chek.
Haque says his commitments sometimes come at the expense of his sleep.
I am busy but I always take pride in my work and whatever I start I make sure I give it 100 percent."