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PSS recognizes student excellence at awards night

250 attend

Pemberton Secondary School students were recognized for excellence in academics, athletics, applied sciences and arts, as well as service and citizenship, at the school’s annual awards night on June 5.

Despite the evening coinciding with the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, more 250 relatives and friends came out to support the more than 100 students who were honoured.

Service Awards, for providing outstanding service to the school, were presented to: Amanda Alfier, Kristen Andrew, Bridget Barker, Stefan Beks, Kayla Cherry, Renka Daito, Kirsten Dickey, Miki Eslake, Ali Faryna, Alexa Gopp, Holly Gopp, Spencer Greenway, Ryan Hellevang, George Henry, Blair Hustins, Trevor Hustins, Maggie Kirkpatrick, Alex Lamontagne, Amie LeBlanc, Emma McClean, Lauren McConkey, Jilleen Patrick, Elizabeth Peters, Deborah Schranz, Lisi Schranz, Kelby Shelrud, Mandi Sinclair, Kayla Spencer, Sydney Van Loon, Lindsey Wray, Sara Wray and Momo Yoshida.

Citizenship Awards were given to students whose friendly and helpful attitude made them ideal ambassadors for the school. The honourees: Greg Bradner, Brandon Cornet, Renka Daito, Maggie Kirkpatrick, Amie LeBlanc, Jilleen Patrick, Taylor Robson, Kylie Robson, Tory Saarinen, Kelby Shelrud and Sydney Van Loon.

Work Experience Placement certificates went to the following students: Damen Armann, Rusty Fotsch, Spencer Greenway, Jacqueline Wells, Lashatkwa Wells and Melalhiatel Williams.

Awarded with five scholarships and bursaries at Saturday’s graduation ceremony, Kelby Shelrud took the prestigious Innovation & Science Council of BC Achievement Award. Shelrud qualified for the award by attaining a better than 90 per cent average in all of the senior science courses offered at the school.

Two First Nations students, Lashatkwa Wells sand Jilleen Patrick, respectively received junior and senior awards in the Fine Arts category.

Applied Skills awards went to junior Eric Robbins and senior Brandon Cornet.

For excellence in Humanities, awards were given to Leta Cushing (Gr. 8), Miki Eslake (Gr. 9), Kylie Robson (Gr. 10), Greg Bradner (Gr. 11) and Tory Saarinen (Gr. 12).

French awards were received by Trevor Van Loon (Gr. 8), Miki Eslake (Gr. 9), Kathleen Lee (Gr. 10), Jilleen Patrick (Gr. 11) and Amie LeBlanc (Gr. 12).

Achievement in Math and Science awards were presented to Sara Clark (Gr. 8), Traylor Robson (Gr.9), Amy Ross (Gr. 10), Greg Bradner (Gr. 11) and Kelby Shelrud (Gr. 12).

The following students, who had maintained an average grade of more than 90 per cent were given awards for Academic Excellence: Sara Clark, Katie Clark, Miki Eslake, Benjamin Groulx, Jacqlyn Kernohan, Amie LeBlanc, Kathleen Lee, Jilleen Patrick, Taylor Robson, Amy Ross Tory Saarinen, Lisi Schranz, Kelby Shelrud, Oliver Snow, Nicholas Walsh, Amanda Wilson and Momo Yoshida.

An additional 60 students were awarded Scholastic Achievement for maintaining an average of between 80 and 90 per cent.

Getting on the honour roll may be difficult, but staying on it is harder. The following graduates were honoured with Scholarship Plaques for managing to make the honour roll for at least four of their five years at PSS: Venetia Ho Chen, Amie LeBlanc, Lauren McConkey, Jilleen Patrick, Tawnya Robson, Amanda Rousseau, Kelby Shelrud and Sydney Van Loon.

However, the evening wasn’t just about recognizing academics, the school’s outstanding and committed athletes were also recognized. Block Letters, reflecting a commitment to practice, were awarded as follows:

Small Blocks: Amanda Alfier, Dennis Andrew, Liam Fisher, Brian Jackson, Alya Pascal, Randal Phillips, Kylie Robson, Sean Suter, Peter Van den Hogen, Quincy Wallace and Cory Wray.

Large Blocks: Kayla Cherry, Ryan Hellevang, George Henry, Shyann Jim, Maggie Kirkpatrick, Mandi Sinclair and Sydney Van Loon.

Most Valuable Player awards were presented to: Kayla Cherry for Sr. Girls Basketball, Kylie Robson for Jr. Girls Basketball, Jenna LeBlanc for Gr. 8 Girls Basketball, Kayla Spencer for Gr. 8 Girls Volleyball, Sara Wray for Sr. Girls Volleyball, Kyle Smith for Boys Soccer, Ben Groulx for Gr. 8 Boys basketball, Mark Crapper for Jr. Boys Basketball, Chris Fraser for Sr. Boys Basketball and Tory Saarinen for the Mountain Bike Club.

Grade 10 student, Geoff McLeod, was awarded the Neil Faulkner Outward Bound Memorial Scholarship.

Amie LeBlanc received the Margaret Marchant award. The award is presented to a Grade 12 student who works behind the scenes to make the school a better place for staff and students.

Sydney Van Loon was given the PTA Award recognizing a student who excels in athletics, academics and citizenship.

The award for Outstanding Citizen went to graduate Jilleen Patrick.

Principal Lawrence Tarasoff presided over the one-hour ceremony that came on the heels of the weekend’s graduation festivities. At the end of the evening, Tarasoff and his wife Carrie, where sited for their immense contributions towards making Grad 2006 a success.

According to Cst. Paul Vadik "grad was good" and there were no incidents arising from related activities over the weekend.