Visit to Canada 2006 - Sophie visit Renfrew school
HRH The Countess of Wessex continued thier visit to Canada with a visit to the Renfrew Educational Service.
On the third day of the Earl and Countess of Wessex's visit to Canada, the royal attended lunch with Alberta's Lieuftenant Governor, Norman Kwong, at the McDougall Centre. The Countess of Wessex than went on a separate engagements to the Renfrew Educational Service - a non profit organisation that teaches classes to children suffering with a variety of medical conditions or disabilities, including autism and cerebral palsy.
Sophie soon won over a new fan, 17-year-old Landon Phillips who admitted he was sh 
ocked to have been in the presence of royalty: "I've never been to anything like that before. It was so formal and fancy." The youngster had obviously received perhaps overly officious instructions as to how he and other guests should treat the Wessexes, explaining: "We had to refer to them as Royal Highness, and if he {Prince Edward} put his hand out you shook it. If he didn't put it out, then you didn't try to shake hands." "When he shook my hand he asked me my name and: 'What do you do?' He was really nice."
The Countess of Wessex was met with great enthusasim by the children and than watched some of Renfrew's pupils perform a rendition of On The Stage especially for her, Sophie asked onlookers: "What I want to know is, how many of you were close to tears? I confess I was as well. That was wonderful." Sophie than squeezed between some of the youngsters in the second row of the audience to take a picture with a group of children, quipping as the photograph was taken: "Is everybody smiling?" Her geniality clearly impressed all, including 9-year-old student Journey Wheatley who, having made a presentation of flowers, said of Sophie: "She's really nice. She's great and she's beautiful. I never thought she'd be so nice. She's a great lady."
The Countess of Wessex was than shown a video presentation about the shcool. She than told the people gathered, that the school which offers facilities from kindergarten to Grade 6 that the school can give the children a good head start in life despite their challenges. "The education you give them is second-to-none and it sets them up for a great future," she said."You encourage them and their families to reach high and have dreams."
Rhys-Jones toured the school, which is completely funded by donations, meeting with staff before being introduced to excited students. Jenna Lynn Ramos, 7, who suffers from cerebral palsey and is unable to speak, thanked Rhys-Jones with the help of a special $10,000 keyboard, donated to the youngster, that relays symbols into words. Ben Thorne, 13, is a former student at the school and was able to speak briefly with Rhys-Jones, telling her of his dream to play wheelchair hockey in the Olympics."She asked me if I played on any hockey teams," said Thorne, who suffers from cerebral palsey. "She told me to keep it up and keep practising."
Last night Sophie was back by Edward's side as they joined members of Calgary's high society for a charity gala.Although tickets to the gala dinner at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel cost $2,500 each, the opportunity to dine alongside the Queen of Canada's son and daughter-in-law saw several hundred people dig deep to help raise around half a million dollars for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme. The dinner, hosted by Pengrowth Management Ltd., was aiming to raise $500,000 for the awards, which are given to youth who excel in community service, skills development, physical fitness and outdoor expedition. James Kinnear, president and CEO of Pengrowth, also announced the company would give a portion of the proceeds from the Luciano Pavarotti farewell tour, coming to Calgary in October, to the program
Meanwhile Prince Edward had once again been promoting the benefits and excellent work of the Awards scheme which his father, Prince Philip, first set up 50 years ago, the Earl handing out gold and silver medals to prisoners who, in an attempt to put their lives back