Last Thursday was, in the words of principal Mark Siemens, “an opportunity to celebrate the quality students that make up Donalda School.”
The school hosted its annual awards ceremony, honouring the skills, accomplishments and contributions of its students over the past year, on the evening of Thursday, Nov. 6.
Siemens opened the ceremony, speaking of the school’s aim to “build students who love learning, who are ready to take risks, who are willing to try with everything they’ve got.”
Awards were presented by staff, school council members, and others from the community.
Each of Donalda’s students — from those in the Early Childhood Services program to last year’s Grade 9 graduates — was recognized with individual awards.
A plaque is presented to each student at Donalda when they begin Grade 1, with a new plate added every year to represent their accomplishments for each grade.
The program also included a brief presentation by Grade 5 and 6 students about Operation Christmas Child, an international program that delivers shoeboxes filled with small presents to needy children overseas.
The students explained how the program works and what items should go in the shoeboxes. The boxes are due back at the school on Nov. 13.
School council president Alison Norman greeted the audience and introduced her fellow council members, including vice-president Shauna Wilkie, secretary Sheila Seale and treasurer Beth Fulton.
Kerry Petersen and Beth Fulton presented the ECS and Grade 1 awards, while Amy Smith and Shauna Wilkie presented awards to last year’s students from grades 2, 3 and 4.
Mark Siemens and Sheila Seale presented the grades 5, 6 and 7 awards, while DonSeale and Alison Norman presented awards for grades 8 and 9.
Siemens and Teresa Anderson introduced the six new arrivals who started at Donalda this year: Annika Siemens, Haylee Machell, Laura and Grace Hebbes, and Isabell and Richard Vert.
Following are the additional awards presented to students, along with the names of the presenters and recipients:
Spruce Coulee Ladies Aid Awards for Leadership and Citizenship Skills (Mary Mueller and Karen Norman): ECS — Kara Wilkie; Grade 1 — Kale Norman; Grade 2 — Emily Saboe; Grade 3 — Brooke Wilkie; Grade 4 — Morgyn Fuller; Grade 5 — Rhett Norman; Grade 6 — Taylor Fuller; Grade 7 — Brayden Hofer; Grade 8 — Ben Olesen; Grade 9 — Shaylee McMann.
Clearview School Division Honour Roll (Cheri Neitz): Grade 7 — Kelsey Rider; Grade 8 — Mickey Jaffray, Justin Fuller, Ben Olesen; Grade 9 — Shaylee McMann, Melanie Walls.
IODE Award Winners for top marks in social studies (Elpha Senft): Grade 6 — Taylor Fuller; Grade 7 — Kelsey Rider; Grade 8 — Justin Fuller; Grade 9 — Melanie Walls.
Donalda Fire Department Safety Awareness Award (Frank Sutton and Tasha Jaffray): Brooke Wilkie.
Chinook Award for highest graduating average in Grade 12 (Don Seale): Morgan Baker.
Bashaw and District Victim Services Student Advocate Award (Amy Cockerill): Sarah Swedberg.
Ryan Damberger Memorial Award for Excellence in Badminton (Mark Siemens): Rhett Norman.
Ian Norman Memorial Award for Outstanding Citizenship (Don Seale): Mickey Jaffray.
Jarrett Gebhardt Memorial Award for Leadership (Don Seale, Mary and Mike Mueller): Randy Olesen.