Heather Persson: Young writers leaped to our Canada 150 essay challenge

Reading student essays for the Leader-Post/StarPhoenix Canada 150 contest led to a sticky situation.
Turns out, there was a load of maple syrup involved. 
There was also a pile of poutine, a ton of Tim Horton’s and a huge amount of hockey. But most of all, I found an inspiring degree of imagination.
The contest had students in grades 8-12 across the province writing essays on one of three topics: Imagine the ultimate Canadian action hero and describe one of his or her adventures.