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3 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, May 28, 2009 STUDENT EXCELLENCE 2009 Halton District School Board honours Oakville students Earlier this month, the Halton District School Board held its 25th annual Celebration of Student Excellence, a special evening that recognized one student from each of the board's elementary and secondary schools. The honoured students are representative of exceptional in areas including: academic, vocational and athletic fields, self-improvement, citizenship and student leadership. Pictures and write-ups of the Oakville recipients will be published over the next few weeks in the Thursday edition of the Oakville Beaver. · Ryan Van Huuksloot, Abbey Lane: Ryan has demonstrated excellence in a number of areas, namely academically, in regards to citizenship skills as well as in a leadership role. Ryan is a leader and coordinator of Abbey Lane's Robotics Team, and a member of the basketball and track and field teams. He is also a member of the Senior Band and is part of the school's SMILE Club. Ryan volunteers for a number of school events, providing leadership as well as positive motivation for his peers. · Melody Wyslobicky, Brantwood: Melody is a respectful, dedicated and dependable Grade 5 student. She is positive and open-minded, with kind words to offer. She is hard-working and sets high standards for herself, always taking the initiative to excel. She is a positive role model with many leadership qualities that encourage others to participate and work together. · Grace Thornton, Brookdale: Throughout her time at Brookdale, Grace has demonstrated a complete commitment to the pursuit of academic excellence, consistently going beyond expectations and earning results that place her at the top of her grade every year. Grace is also a highly valued contributor to a remarkable breadth of extracurricular pursuits at school (Band, Robotics, Drama, Student Parliament and all of our competitive sports teams) and in the community at large (Youth Leadership Camp, RBG Junior Naturalists). Grace always strives to bring out the best in herself, as well as those around her. Shayan Sadeghieh, Captain R. Wilson: Shayan is the Prime Minister of the school's Student Parliament. He is a member of both the Senior Boys basketball and volleyball teams and a member of the concert band and the brass quintet. He is an Honour Roll student who consistently sets goals for himself. He practices the Tribes Agreements in his interactions with peers, adults, younger students and visitors. Alex O'Hara, Chisholm: Alex is a conscientious student who quietly strives to do his best in all pursuits. While assuming many leadership roles throughout the school, he is diligent and demonstrates a respectful attitude. He enjoys a challenge and inspires others to do the same. In his free time, Alex plays the electric guitar. Neha Bhasin, E.J. James: Neha was selected because she represents student academic excellence and because of her involvement in the Debate Club, Band, her academic achievements, her willingness to help others, both in class and in the office. takes on a leadership role within these activities to ensure the projects are completed. Katherine Lillico, Falgarwood: Katherine is a Grade 8 honour roll student. She is involved in the school as a peer tutor, a JK/SK helper, a band member, a basketball team member and a coordinator of Falgarwood's Inaugural Used Book Sale. Jacqueline Jung, Forest Trail: Academically, Jackie currently has the highest grade average in her graduating class (over 90 per cent) and has been accepted to attend the IB program at White Oaks S.S. next fall. While being one of our schools fastest female runners, she also excels at triple jump and shot put and is a member of AA Hockey team. Jackie continually sets goals for herself and always strives for improvement. As a leader in an Entrepreneurial Adventure (EA) program, she has organized numerous community activities for younger children, assisted in organizing a school Fun Fair that is raising money to build a school in Africa. Jackie is the student body Prime Minister and a member of many school clubs and teams including Green Club, Student Athletic Council and lunch monitoring. Denise Bridges,Gladys Speers: Denise is a student who sets challenging athletic, academic and artistic goals for herself. She contributes to the school community through her involvement in the choir, school plays and cross country running. Her focus on learning, high personal expectations and leadership are evident as she participates in school life. Denise practices the Tribes agreements in her daily interactions with others. Lauren Smith, Heritage Glen: Lauren was selected because of her academic excellence and her social leadership at Heritage Glen. She consistently goes above and beyond what is expected and has a kind and generous spirit and heart. Her contributions to the student council, athletic council, and both the concert and jazz bands are outstanding. She is kind, empathetic and inclusive to all students at Heritage Glen. Her spirit and zest for learning and life are contagious. Laura Steeves, Joshua Creek: Laura has demonstrated academic excellence, maintaining consistent honor student status at Joshua Creek. She is an active and very involved student leader with her role in a myriad of clubs and teams including sports, musical, enrichment, and student ambassador groups. Laura is a conscientious and involved student representing the school always with a positive and professional attitude. Jonathan Donville, Linbrook: Jonathan exhibits high personal standards and strong intrinsic motivation to excel academically, and enthusiastically explores new ideas and concepts. A natural leader and role model, he consistently shows his positive attitude by helping, encouraging and celebrating the successes of all the students in our learning community. He is an active participant in many school activities and is a caring and thoughtful reading buddy to his Grade 1 partner. Saarah Haque, Lorne Skuce: Saarah is a leader at Lorne Skuce. She is actively involved in all aspects of school life. She demonstrates outstanding qualities in all areas. She is an excellent role model for her peers and actively in all extra curricular activities in the school. She is energetic, outgoing, personable, respectful and maintains high standards for herself. Ryan Van Huuksloot Abbey Lane Melody Wyslobicky Brantwood Grace Thornton Brookdale Shayan Sadeghieh Captain R. Wilson Alex O'Hara Chisholm Neha Bhasin E. J. James Devan Aris Eastview Tejinder Kaur Emily Carr Katherine Lillico Falgarwood Jacqueline Jung Forest Trail Denise Bridges Gladys Speers Lauren Smith Heritage Glen Laura Steeves Joshua Creak Jonathan Donville Linbrook Saarah Haque Lorne Skuce Devan Aris, Eastview: Devan demonstrates outstanding qualities in many areas. Devan is an honour student and is highly respected by teachers and his peers. As Eastview's Student Parliament Prime Minister he has led successful events such as food drives, spirit days, school dances, tournaments, etc. Devan is a talented musician. He has been a member of the school concert and stage bands. His greatest strengths are his compassion and enthusiasm. Devan is always thinking of what he can do for others. Tejinder Kaur, Emily Carr: Tejinder was selected because she has demonstrated outstanding qualities in academics, athletics, student leadership, and community work within the school. Tejinder is an Honours student, and is a member of the school's Concert Band, Interlink Choir, volleyball and basketball teams. In addition, whenever a teacher or student asks for help with a project, Tejinder volunteers and