School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha)
RECOGNITION OF STUDENT/SCHOOL SUCCESS
September 11, 2006
School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha) extends congratulations to the following students/groups for these
outstanding examples of success:
DISTRICT
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The district was pleased to announce the names of the recipients of the six District Scholarships for
2005-06. District Scholarships are provided by the Ministry of Education for presentation to graduates
excelling in one or more applied area(s) of study. Selection of District Scholarship winners is carried
out by local District Scholarship Committees within provincial guidelines. Scholarships are allocated to
District high schools on a per capita basis.
Candidates for District Scholarships come from a wide range of areas of study including fine and
performing arts, home economics, industrial education/technology, business education, physical
education, career prep programs and secondary school apprenticeship.
The scholarships were presented at the School District Office at 1300h on Wednesday, August 23,
2006, by School Board Chairman Connie Denesiuk and principals Peter Corcoran, Bill Bidlake and
Dave Searcy.
Winners receive a $1000 scholarship. A cheque for $500 will be issued directly by the Ministry to each
student in October. District Scholarship certificates and vouchers will also be issued directly from the
Ministry. Students should receive their scholarship packages in November. The Ministry will issue a
balance of $500 directly to the student when the voucher, validated by an approved post-secondary
institution, is submitted to the Ministry of Education.
All of the applicants are to be congratulated on their excellent achievement in these applied areas.
Penticton Secondary School
Sean Garvey
Reuben Evans-Galeski
Philip Northcott
Trades & Technology
Fine Arts
Fine Arts
Summerland Secondary School
Justin Hasselbach
Frances Stahl
Business (Marketing & Advertising)
Textiles (Fashion & Design)
Princess Margaret Secondary School
Zachary Abney
Fine Arts
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West Bench Elementary School was the site for the signing of the Aboriginal Education Enhancement
Agreement on National Aboriginal Day. The agreement, which every district in the province must
complete, sets out measurable goals to improve aboriginal academic achievement. Current five-year
program goals include improvements in the areas of literacy, numeracy, grade transition and overall
success rate. The document is a joint project between the many aboriginal communities, which
includes on-reserve and other First Nations, Metis, Inuit, the school district, Education ministry and the
province. This was a very significant event for the district. Along with the signing ceremonies,
attendees enjoyed a salmon barbecue and cultural performances.
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The annual “Celebrating Achievement” event was held at the Penticton Lakeside Resort and many local
students had an opportunity to strut their stuff. The event is a selection of some of the best works of
elementary, middle and secondary schools throughout the district and included scenes from plays,
musical entertainment and an overview of educational goals. The event was enjoyed by all who
attended.
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Local students with superior mathematical skills came away with top spots at a competition presented
by the University of Waterloo in Ontario. The Gauss Mathematics contest is an extra-curricular activity
for grades 7 and 8 students that is designed to provide a challenge to match students with advanced
skills. There were 100 grade 8 students and 113 grade 7 students in this year’s contest.
Congratulations to the following winners.
Grade 8 winners:
Quinn Ramsay
Kori Stene
Matt Numsen
KVR Middle School
Skaha Lake Middle School
Summerland Middle School
1st Place
2nd Place
3rd Place
Grade 7 winners:
Missy Kuchera
Sahil Sidhu
Darien Reger
James Sloan
Skaha Lake Middle School
Skaha Lake Middle School
Summerland Middle School
Skaha Lake Middle School
Tied for 1st
Tied for 1st
2nd Place
3rd place
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The Children’s Literature Roundtable of the South Okanagan recently announced the winners of the
annual award for grade 4 students for outstanding efforts in reading. The following are this year’s
winners.
Emily Chiacig
West Bench Elementary
Emily Clarke
Parkway Elementary
Thurston Dettling
Uplands Elementary
Osiris Dion
Queen’s Park Elementary
Chanpreet Grewal
Columbia Elementary
Bailee Hainstock
Carmi Elementary
Sanam Klar
Wiltse Elementary
Marc Klering
Kaleden Elementary
Robert Lalond
Home Learners’ Program
Carolina Rahkola
Naramata Elementary
Breanna Simpson
Carmi Elementary
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More than 100 textile and fashion design students from Penticton, Summerland and Princess Margaret
Secondary schools showed off their designs at a fashion show held at Cherry Lake Mall. Student-made
summer dresses, sportswear, tops, pants, formal dresses, costumes, recycled projects, crafts and quilts
were among the items displayed on the catwalk. This is the second year the schools have put on the
fashions show. A great event.
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KVR MIDDLE SCHOOL
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Two late French Immersion grade 6 classes showcased the culmination of 10 weeks of in-depth
research into a country of their choice. Initial research could be conducted in English, but the final
project had to be in French. Students dressed in costumes, prepared food and presented information
from a country they had studied in depth. Besides information on the geography, climate, economy,
government, major cities and transportation in their country, the students dressed up in cultural
costumes and served authentic, homemade food from their country. Visitors were invited to complete a
passport by gathering stamps from each of the countries represented by a booth. The event was a
great success and enjoyed by all!
PENTICTON SECONDARY SCHOOL
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Graduate Colby Ramsay cashed in in a big way on post-secondary school opportunity thanks to high
marks, leadership skills and community involvement. Colby received a $140,000 Morehead
Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The scholarship covers all the
costs related to his education – tuition, housing, books and a laptop – as well as a series of four
summer enrichment programs.
Colby qualified for the scholarship through top marks, his participation as a bass player in the All in
Good Time jazz group – which regularly performed at community fundraisers – his success as a
wrestler which included winning the high school wrestling provincials, and being president of the Pen
High student council.
His application was picked as one of the top 10 of the 750 sent in across Canada. A week after he
went through two hours of one-on-one and panel interviews, Colby learned he was one of just three
Canadians picked for the scholarship.
Well done and congratulations, Colby.
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Lindsey Doehle is one of only seven grade 11 students from BC to be awarded a $60,000 scholarship
to attend one of the United World Colleges – in Wales, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore and Victoria – for
the next two years. Lindsey was presented with the scholarship by Penticton-Okanagan Valley MLA
Bill Barisoff to attend Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific. The two year program
brings together students from all over the world and leads to an International Baccalaureate which is
accepted by major international universities as equivalent to the final year of secondary school and the
first year of university. Well done, Lindsey!!
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Another grad, Jordan Robinson (2006 Pen High grad class female valedictorian) accepted SFU’s offer
of a $24,000 entrance scholarship. Congratulations, Jordan.
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Grade 12 student Jamie Lawless was presented with a tool kit by Roy Seidelman of Okanagan
Rodtiques and Acklands Grainer. The tools are presented to the student with the top overall mark in
auto mechanics. They are important to graduating students because most employers require new
mechanics to have their own tools. Okanagan Rodtiques organizes the Blossom Run in Summerland
each year. They have donated a set of tools to a Pen High automotive student each year for the past
five years.
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Amelia Boultbee was recently chosen as the BC Chamber of Commerce Young Citizen of the Year for
2006. This 2006 Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation entrance award recognizes young people
who are entering university or college for their leadership skills, community involvement, academic
achievement and interest in innovation. Amelia is active in a variety of community events and
organizations, including the Canadian Cancer Society. Congratulations, Amelia.
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PRINCESS MARGARET SECONDARY SCHOOL
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Graduate Kaitlin Klamut was offered a $24,000 Simon Fraser University entrance scholarship and
smaller scholarships to Carlton, the University of Alberta and the University of Victoria. But in the end
she settled on a $36,000 Queen’s Chancellor scholarship to student engineering at Queen’s University
in Kingston, Ontario. She is looking at biomedical (engineering).
A 10-minute film entitled “Stop the Drip” was produced by grade 12 students Joey Pierre and Travis
Nowoselski and grade 10 student Kailene Ramage. In addition to explaining where Penticton gets its
water and what goes into treating and distributing it, the movie provides plenty of tips on how to save
water and urges residents to learn the cost of wasting water. Great job!
QUEEN’S PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
“Program seeks to get kids hooked on fishing”
(Courtesy of Brian Jonson, News Staff Report, Penticton Western News)
Screams and shouts of delight and disgust filled the air as students practiced
the art of catching and releasing rainbow trout from a small pond near OK
Falls.
Two classes of grade 4 students were the first in the area to try the new
Learn to Fish program offered by the freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
The program aims to introduce new anglers to the art of fishing. The full
version of the course, which is available through the Summerland Trout
Hatchery, is a four-hour introduction to fishing rods, ethical handling of fish,
species identification, tying knots and casting skills, among other topics.
The students had a stripped-down version that focused on casting, catching
and releasing. The course started with an introduction to casting, during
which the students tried to land light, colourful balls in hula hoops 15 metres
away. Then it was on to the pond where they took turns hooking a trout,
then grabbed the wet and slithery fish with their hands and put it gently back
in the pond.
It’s that kind of hands-on experience that the society hopes will attract more young people to angling at a
time when interest in the sport is waning, said Sarah Julien, one of the two instructors.
“Average fishermen are middle-aged guys, so they want to encourage kids to get out there,” she said.
“Fishing is kind of a hard sport to get into if you don’t have anyone teaching you what to do. That’s why the
program was developed – to get kids involved and get them out there fishing and hopefully their parents
too.”
Although aimed primarily at urban residents, the program is being offered throughout the province as a way
to help people rediscover freshwater sport fishing, said Mark Siemens, Manager of the Summerland Trout
Hatchery.
The ActNow B.C. program backed the project because fishing is a way to get young people away from
TV’s, computers and video games and active in nature, he said. The program is paid for through a
partnership between the society, the ActNow B.C. program, the Ministry of the Environment’s Conservation
Corps program and the B.C. Conservation Founding. The program ran from June 19 – August 25.
All equipment is supplied for the program. Children needed to bring lunches, snacks, hats and sunscreen.
They are sent home with a goody bag. Adult supervision and transportation was required.
For more information on the Learn to Fish program you can call (250) 488-0485, (250) 494-0491, go online
to <www.gofishbc.com> or e-mail <visit.summerland@gofishbc.com>.
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SUMMERLAND MIDDLE SCHOOL
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A total of 114 grade 6 students completed the dare program.
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is a cooperative project between the police and school
to encourage students to resist drugs and make healthy choices. The program consists of 10 lessons
and each student must actively participate in the lessons, complete their workbook and write an essay
to be eligible to graduate.
The essays written by the students summarize what they learned during the program and their
commitment to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Topics covered were the health effects of tobacco,
alcohol, and marijuana, peer pressure, advertising, friendships and positive activities that do not
involved drugs or alcohol.
DARE officer Cst. Nicole Sansregret is proud of the students who participated in the program.
The program was concluded with a graduation ceremony at the school. Guests included Sgt. Rick
Bigland of the Summerland RCMP, Superintendent Gary Doi, Board Chair Connie Denesiuk, Jody
Meyer from Pathways Addictions Services, Don DeGagne from the municipality and Principal Katie
Hicks,
SUMMERLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL
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Fifteen students with teachers Jane Stead and Tom Brickenden, hiked the site at the north end of the
Trout Creek 1 bridge, to plant native Ponderosa pines, sumacs, Oregon grape, sagebrush, rabbitbrush,
Idaho Fescue and bluebunch wheatgrass. Three students were from Penticton while the rest were from
Summerland Secondary School’s Global Awareness Group.
Donna Lane was the landscape architect at the project site. The plants came from Grasslands Nursery
in Summerland and Sagebrush Nursery in Oliver. Doug Clayton from the KVR prepared the site, and
Dave’s Landscaping delivered mulch to help with the plants. Workers from the KVR made collars from
ice cream (donated by Summerland Sweets) pails to put around the larger plants to make watering
easier until the plants are established.
Funds from the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan make this landscape project possible.
Hardy native plants were chosen to enhance the site. Marilyn Hansen, chair of the Summerland Trans
Canada Trail Society says the students’ help was appreciated.
Ref: 06-07SUP/00300-01/Admin/Board of Trustees-General/Student Successes/ Success Stories 06Sep11