Most of today's column was written by Thomas Thierstein, Erin MacDonnell and Daniel Ekstrom, three students from Mary-Lynn Epps' Grade 8, Textiles and Crafts class at Cedar Community Secondary School.

You may remember that in late November six other students from this class wrote about three of their fellow students who they felt were Neighbourhood Heroes.

These stories were all written as part of our school-based Neighbourhood Heroes WebQuest program.

Now, let's meet today's Neighbourhood Hero.

Mr. Howe is an outstanding neighbourhood hero.

We first heard about him from Mr. Whitely, our librarian and Mrs. Howe, an educational assistant at Cedar Secondary School.

In conversation, they both commented on Mr. Howe's community work. He has volunteered for Cedar Scouting for 10 years, and has worked on other community committees during his 20 years of living in Cedar.

He planned and landscaped Cedar Community Secondary School at no charge. He is always the first to lend a helping hand whenever it is needed.

Obstacles in life have never stopped Mr. Howe from achieving his dreams. He lost his father at a young age and his family was in financial difficulty.

Mr. Howe recognized that his mother needed support so he found work before and after school to contribute to the family's income.

Mr. Howe never complained although the responsibility of school and work were difficult.

Mr.Howe is well liked within the Cedar community, probably because he accepts everyone. He never judges people and is known to be fair and just.

We think that his role model was his Grade 12 community recreation teacher. This teacher took Mr. Howe's class to Saturna Island to act as counsellors for a group of grade 7 students. He learned leadership skills, and a lot about himself during that week.

Mrs. Howe was asked how her husband has inspired her. She reported to us that he always gave her encouragement to take risks and to be her own person.

When I spoke to Gordon Howe after his nomination he was obviously pleased to have been selected as a Neighbourhood Hero by these three students.

"I hope that I can be a positive role model for them," he said.

He also went on to talk about boys he had worked with during his 10 years as a leader in the scouting movement. Now, he says, I meet them as successful young parents or as students at Malaspina.

"It's feels good," he said, "when you see that you have touched their lives in a positive way."

So why would someone like Gordon Howe give so much of his time to community volunteer work?

"When I was growing up, we moved around a lot," he explained. "We never stayed anywhere long enough to become part of the community. I went to thirteen different elementary schools."

It wasn't until he moved to Cedar that Howe really began to put down roots. Volunteering was his way to get involved and becoming part of the community.

"So you see, I'm not just giving to the community. I'm getting a whole lot back too," he assured me.

When I asked if he had any other role models in his life, Howe's eyes sparkled as he talked about Douglas Bader, the World War Two fighter pilot who became one of the Battle of Briton's most famous pilots in spite of having lost both of his legs in a previous plane crash.

"Bader's story proves that anything is possible if you're truly committed to success," Howe enthused.