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Farewell to Grade 9s at PRJH
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Principal Victor Fines highlighted the Grade 9 students’ accomplishments, which include bringing home the zone and district banners in track and field.
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Like all other Grade 9 students, Shilla Whang received a Hawaiian flower ring from Nancy Marquardt, as well as a pin from principal Victor Fines and Jocelyn Heyde.
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Evan Griffiths makes her way from the gym entrance down the aisle to her seat near the podium. Griffiths was one of 72 Grade 9 students at Prairie River this year.
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Teacher Michelle Keshen offered a heartfelt speech, reflecting on the students’ achievements. She encouraged each to choose their way wisely in life.
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Michael Cooper, left, and Elizabeth Potskin sang ‘O Canada’ at the start of the ceremony.
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Mac Olsen
South Peace News
One by one, the Grade 9 students made their way into the gym as friends and relatives applauded.
Prairie River Junior High School held its farewell ceremony for 72 Grade 9 students June 13. Zachary Bliss and Mikayla Young, the masters of ceremony, read each student’s name as they entered the gym. Michael Cooper and Elizabeth Potskin then sang ‘O Canada’.
In his address, principal Victor Fines highlighted the students’ accomplishments.
“They’ve been a great bunch, I’m impressed and pleased with them,” says Fines.
The class helped bring home the zone and district banners for track and field, which is a remarkable achievement because they competed against many bigger schools. One-third of the class achieved honours in a specific subject or a combination of subjects.
The class also helped form the Friends Of Rachel Club, to avert bullying and violence. Craig Scott, who survived the Columbine High Massacre, was at PRJH in March to highlight the importance of preventing bullying and violence and talked about his sister, Rachel Scott. She was one of the first killed and he established the FOR Club in her memory.
Fines praised the teachers, who he called one of the best groups he has ever worked with. He also praised the parents for raising their children well and for supporting the teachers.
In conclusion, Fines reminded students the ceremony was only the beginning of lifelong learning.
“I’m going to miss you, all of you are unique. Congratulations and be safe.”
Teacher Michelle Keshen offered a heartfelt speech, too, reflecting on the students’ achievements and how they have matured.
“It is amazing to think that only a few years ago, you walked into our school as quiet, timid and much smaller Grade 7s,” says Keshen.
“You have changed in so many ways, not just physically and intellectually, but you are also closer to discovering who you are as an individual. In your years at PRJH, there have been times you have made the staff smile, laugh, shake our heads and occasionally holler, but the times we remember the best are those when you have made us proud.”
A multimedia presentation comprised of students’ photos as infants and their current age was shown, with much “ooing” and “aawing” from the audience.
Zachary Bliss and Mikayla Young offered their own speech, reliving many good memories of their three years at PRJH.
After, Fines and Heyde presented pins to each student. They also received Hawaiian flower rings in keeping with the farewell’s Hawaiian theme.
Students reminisce about good times
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Mikayla Young, left, and Zachary Bliss were the masters of ceremony. They also read a speech about how their group has grown and changed.
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Zachary Bliss, Mikayla Young
In these three years at Prairie River, there have been the good, the bad and Mr. (Brennan) McDonald. He has made it interesting, although he was mellower this year without his partner in crime, Mr. (Steve) Lauchlan.
Most of our favourite memories would have to be messing with the teachers, from dunce caps to car attacks, it was always a laugh. We won’t dwell on the seventh grade because we were all too shy and scared to be any fun.
Eighth grade was probably the best for most people. Many of us came out of our shells and embraced the insanity of this school.
The Grade 8 trip was an amazing experience. With the polar dip and the survival game, the first night we were left cold, wet and muddy (and) we soon found out you can’t shower without power.
This was Mr. Lauchlan’s goodbye year, as he sped off to China. Seeing how we haven’t heard from him in months, he’s probably kidnapped, in jail or has a Chinese girlfriend.
We don’t know if Grade 9 would have been any fun without him because we were so accustomed to his antics. But it seemed the other teachers could keep us entertained.
(In) the years we have been here, the sports teams have, as always, been very successful. We have accumulated banners in those years. The trips were a blast and were always an adventure, from creepy Peace River motels on volleyball trips, to scary hotels in Spirit River on badminton trips and we were always really sportsmanlike.
Drama and the play also kept us busy learning lines and figuring out our set. It was a huge success, even though we kept Mr. (Paul) Flowers and Ms. (Janine) Reynolds biting their fingernails.
Before we say goodbye to junior high and hello to high school, we would like to thank the teachers, new and old, for putting up with our shenanigans.
We would also like to thank the parents for supporting us through this part of our lives. We would finally like to say a big thank-you to Nancy Marquardt for organizing this farewell.
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