The Citizen, 2011-07-07, Page 17Congratulations Graduates
Yesterday’s Traditions
Tomorrow’s Future
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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2011. PAGE 17.Graduation 2011
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Memories of teachers fill Blyth’s graduation ceremony
Continued from page 12
not responding.
Of course, following numerical
order, the next stop along the way
was Grade 4. Mrs. Decker was a
new step for us. She taught us that
salami was not only a type of meat,
but an acronym to get us to be quiet.
Whenever Mrs. Decker screamed
“Salami!”, the class would follow
what the acronym stood for. Salami
means Stop And Look At Me
Immediately. And, of course, we
would always do that. It’s one of
those “click your heels and salute”
moments. Our class also learned
another very important thing. Never
tell Mrs. Decker you couldn’t find
anything. If you had told her, she
would simply create an earthquake
the contents of your desk may have
ended up on the classroom floor.
And here we bring ourselves to
Celena. Celena has always been a
good student, but back then, she had
a hard time keeping track of her
pencil (and sometimes still does).
After a while Mrs. Decker ran out of
options and therefore, tied it to a
piece of string and taped it to her
desk. Mrs. Decker also introduced
us to Madame Walke, who would
begin to teach us the wonderful
language of French. Strangely,
except for Madame Antonio, we
never had the same French teacher
twice. I began to have suspicions
whether or not this may have had
something to do with us. Though
after watching Isaac and other
classmates get sugar pumped into
them, I began to see why.
In Grade 5, we had Mrs. Remple
as a teacher. She taught us the basic
things we needed to know and still
had plenty of fun along the way. Not
only did we have a new teacher, we
also were introduced to Dalton.
Dalton is one of those people who
just goofs off some times, though he
does have some serious moments. I
don’t know if winning a round of
Stella Ella Ola counts as being
serious, but what do I know?
Moving onto Grade 6 was an
interesting experience. Mrs.
Middleton changed things up by
giving us a more Japanese theme.
She divided us up into different
Japanese table groups. She brought
in cushions and a low table and the
class would take turns using
chopsticks. Unfortunately, that table
was broken and the Japanese stuff
disappeared instantly. I’m still
disappointed that she hadn’t brought
in a suit of armour for a samurai.
Though, after the table incident, I
guess having a samurai sword on
display wouldn’t have been what
you might call a great idea.
Grade 7 was where things really
changed. For starters, Jeremy wound
his way into this tale. I hadn’t really
gotten to know Jeremy until Grade
8, but that’s still to come. Soon after
arrival, the class discovered for the
first time, we were going to be split
up. I was one of the six lucky few
that found our way into Mrs.
Armstrong’s class. Leanne,
Daymien, Ryan, Carlene, Josh V,
and I spent most of our time
listening to the important things that
Mrs. Armstrong had to say, though I
can’t quite be sure how much we
could all take in.
In the first couple of weeks, Mrs.
Armstrong told us that she was
dyslexic and said she might spell
some words incorrectly. She also
said we could correct her if she
spelled something wrong on the
board. I think that the class took it a
little too much to the extremes.
Being right next to the library, we
met Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown was our
school techy. If you were having
computer problems, he was the man
to see (though he refused to teach us
how to hack a computer, even after
several pleas from the students). The
rest of the Grade 7 students spent
their days with Mrs Badham. I am
sure they learned how to act as a
tribe. Ms Badham’s theatrical and
musical skills are legendary here at
Blyth. Everyone knows Ms Badham
loves her job so it is not surprising
that sometimes we were a little
rowdy in her class, but hey, Ms
Badham can be a bit of a party
animal herself.
And then we come to Grade 8.
This year (under the watchful eye of
Mrs. Armstrong), the class was
reunited again. I think we had the
most fun too (though that didn’t stop
us from getting in a little bit of
trouble). I’m sure Mrs. McDowell
enjoyed chatting with us, right?
This year also gave me an
interesting look into who Mackenzie
C is. You see, for a long period of
time, I found myself sitting next to
Mackenzie. For some reason (and
honestly I can’t exactly remember
why), Mackenzie would sing “You
Are My Sunshine” to me. The first
couple of times she did it, it really
freaked me out, but I soon began to
become immuned to it. For a while
before I could get used to it, I
frequently asked the question “Why
me?” I also sat beside Josh B during
part of the year. Even though one
day he’d be at school and the next,
he’d be gone, but he still found the
time to talk to us about tractors and
trucks.
We also haven’t mentioned
Daymien and Ryan. These two can
sometimes be a rowdy bunch, doing
the wildest things their hearts desire.
At one point in the year, Daymien
began to make video game
references, leaving Mrs. Armstrong
a bit confused. Thankfully, I had
managed to pick up enough of the
lingo to interpret.
Like most of the Grade 8 classes
before us, we ventured to Camp
Celtic. There, I’m sure that most of
us had great experiences and an even
better time. When our class was
participating in rock climbing,
Leanne volunteered to help
demonstrate how to wear the
harness. Of course Leanne had
participated in a photo shoot activity
earlier and I guess her modelling
self hadn’t worn off. Next we have
Ryan who at one point had to climb
across a rope, upside down. I can see
why he likes to act like a monkey so
much because he can sure climb like
one. And then Jeremy, being his
sometimes goofy self, proceeded to
hang a few inches off the ground and
pretend to have a tea party with a
fellow counsellor. You have to
admit, but the class knows how to
have fun.
Finally, we are here tonight. To
share our tales, our stories, our
dreams. To bring back the memories
that made us smile but also, to give
advice from the mistakes that we
made along the way. A wise man
once said, “We are all capable of
choosing our own destinies, the
question is which path will you
take?” In a way that man is right.
This is our tale that we’re living.
One we can share with others. One
that tells the world who we are.
Where we never know what’s over
the next horizon for there is no limit
to where this tale could take us. And
so, as every tale must come to an
end, I hope that every one from this
graduating class of 2011, lives
happily ever after in their story. And
so ends my story, or at least this
chapter.
Continued from page 13
feelings of love, pity, happiness,
sadness and excitement that we’ve
felt together.
All of these things make me
realize that there are many great and
wonderful adventures awaiting us on
the road of life. Some of us will
finish high school and head to
university, some to college, or
others, neither.
Life is a journey that it taken one
step at a time. Today, we are taking a
huge step out of Brussels Public
School and into high school. The
steps we take in the next few years
will help answer the questions that are
asked of us: “What do you want to be?
Who do you want to be? Where do
you want to be? If you had asked
yourself these questions many years
earlier you might have said, a
princess, a fireman, or maybe even a
singer. Today we are taking the next
step to making all of those dreams a
reality.
There are so many people who
have helped us along this
journey:
• The graduates who have helped
each other survive through and
through day to day.
• Mrs. Dolmage who got
bandaids and ice packs for our
bumps and bruises, printed us extra
trip forms when we lost ours and
gave us smiles that lit up our days at
school.
• Our teachers, from Mrs. Dawe
and Mrs. Gillespie in music, to Mrs.
Hall in Kindergarten to Mrs. McKee
and all of the others, thanks for
making learning fun.
• Our custodians Mrs. Good for all
of the thousands of papers you’ve
swept up off our floor each and
every night.
• Our families for all of the late
night homework and project help.
Whether we were learning that
2+2=4 or the particle theory, you
have been with us to help us with our
homework, pack our lunches, or
wipe away our tears.
We made it. Good luck to all of the
graduates as we embark on an
amazing journey together.
Graduation a huge step, but one step among many
Students at Hullett Central Public
School were honoured for their
achievements and contributions
throughout the year recently.
Jordan deBoer was awarded the
Outstanding Male Graduate title.
The Science and Math awards were
also presented to deBoer.
Valerie Westerhout was named
Outstanding Female Graduate and
was awarded for excelling at Art,
Computer Technology and History.
Stephanie Disher was presented
the Geography Award and the
French Award.
Lexi Aitken was named Female
Athlete of the Year and also received
the Music award.
Rebecca-Lynn Lowey was named
Valedictorian for the graduating
class and received the English
award.
The French award was presented
to Stephanie Disher. Disher also
received the Geography award.
Jeroen van de Wetering was
named Male Athlete of the Year,
presented with the O.P.C. award and
also received the Student Council
award.
Emily Bergsma received the nod
from her peers and received the
Student’s Choice award and also
received the Overall Academic
Improvement Award.
The Effort and Co-operation
award was given to Connor Rodger.
Kenny Huether received the
volunteer award.
Hullett Central Grade 8 awards
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The Citizen