Proud parents had a chance to see their children shine during a Ponoka Secondary Campus (PSC) fall awards celebration.
The event was held Tuesday, Oct. 21 with large numbers of Grade 10, 11 and 12 students receiving honours for having an average score of 80 per cent or higher. While many of the Grade 12 award recipients have already graduated and are in university or college, their names were still read out to attendees.
A large group of students received Alexander Rutherford Scholarships, which recognizes academic achievement at the senior high school level. Wendy Fessler, the academic and career advisor at PSC says there are many sponsors that help make the event possible.
“I just like to celebrate the successes of our students and that’s what we wanted our awards night to be,” said Fessler.
She works closely with students to direct them to careers they are interested in and tries to find the right college or university for graduating students and scholarships, if available.
“Not all these awards are based on marks. These awards are based on community involvement. Community volunteering is important,” said Fessler.
Prinicipal Ian Rawlinson says he is proud of the number of students earning themselves the Rutherford Scholarship and also in the increase in students’ scores in provincial exams.
“Just the work ethic of the kids in this community and how they continue to face adversity,” stated Rawlinson.
He suggests there are times that students will set goals for themselves but may fail at what they intended, but what makes them stronger is how they deal with that adversity.
“The thing is how you react to that failure; whether you step up and you refocus,” said Rawlinson.
He said he is proud of the efforts of PSC students who have had to deal with monumental change in recent years.
“One of our jobs is to make sure we give them the skills to know how to deal with it,” he added.
Thousands of dollars in scholarships were handed out during the awards night with Caleb Froese being awarded the Glencoe Resources Ltd. Scholarship at $6,000 over four years. Froese also was recognized with the Governor General’s Award.