Principal’s Page
By Jeff Reaburn
The big event this week, of course, is the formal, which is being held on Friday evening in the small gym. The theme this year is “The Golden Age – Twist the Night Away,” and we are looking forward to having a very enjoyable evening. This is an annual rite of passage for the graduating students, as it is their last social gathering as students of this school. The next time that so many of them will be together at one time will be at Commencement in October. So this should be a night of friendship and camaraderie, a night to reminisce and reflect on their years as students of this school.
As part of the proceedings we will be recognizing the nominees for Student of the Year and honouring two of them, one female and one male, who have been selected by their peers as the recipients of this award. I mentioned their names last week, but would like to recognize them again. The nominees are: Katie Anderson, Lauren Haberer, Janita Pfaff, Carly Schroeder, Dimitris Fragiskatos, Marcus Haccius, Bryce Halpenny, and Kurt Van Osch.
The nominees this year are an outstanding group of students who are representative of all that is good about the students in this school. They are all good students and collectively they represent excellent academic achievement, outstanding athletic accomplishment, excellence in the performing arts, and significant student leadership. So, once again the graduating class has done an amazing job in choosing very worthy candidates for the honour of representing the graduating class. I would like to add my personal congratulations to these students and to thank them for all of their contributions to life at South Huron in the last four years.
These students will be recognized and the winners announced starting at 9:45 on Friday evening. The dance is ending earlier this year at the request of the Formal Committee, and so the presentations will occur much earlier than in past years. As always, parents, family, and friends are invited to join us for the presentation. The balcony will be open to provide a good opportunity to view the proceedings.
On a more serious note, I would like to remind all of the students who will be attending the formal of the importance of being responsible and looking out for one another. I indicated in last week’s column that all students attending the formal will go through a breathalyzer test before being admitted to the dance. This is a practice that we instituted a few years ago, primarily in response to the significant numbers of students who were coming to the formal after having consumed alcohol. Personally, I would rather not have to do the breathalyzer test, but I have an obligation to adhere to the Provincial Code of Conduct, which clearly states that students are not to attend school functions under the influence of alcohol. The breathalyzer test helps us to ensure that this is the case.
My greater concern, however, relates to the events that often follow the formal. Usually, it is a night of partying and, unfortunately, there are times when the partying leads to accidents and injuries. So, I will issue my annual plea to all those who are attending parties after the dance to be responsible, to look out for one another, and to help ensure that everyone returns to school safely on Monday morning. I encourage everyone to help us make this a night to remember for all the right reasons.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity once again to congratulate the ten track and field athletes who represented South Huron at the OFSAA West Regional Track and Field Championships in London last weekend. All of our athletes performed very well under some extremely difficult weather conditions, but I would like to recognize in particular the following athletes, who finished in the top ten: Justin Anstett in the Sr. Boys Javelin, Michelle Hall in the Midget Girls 800M and 3000M, Teri
Stuckless in Junior Girls Shot Put, Ezekiel McCarthy in the Junior Boys Discus and Javelin, Stephen Runhart in the Midget Boys Javelin, John Macgregor in Midget Boys High Jump, and Katie Anderson in the Senior Girls 1500M and the 3000M. Congratulations to all of these athletes and their coaches: it is a very significant achievement to get to the OFSAA Regional meet, and all of our athletes should be commended for their efforts.
Katie Anderson finished third and second respectively in her events and will be moving on to represent SHDHS at the OFSAA Championships on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We congratulate Katie on these outstanding achievements, and wish her the best of luck in the provincial championships this weekend.
Addendum: The annual SHDHS Art & Design Show opens Tuesday, June 10 in our Small Gym at 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. It will run Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Friday, June 13 until noon. Admission is FREE but donations to MS Research will be gratefully accepted. This exhibition will feature a wide variety of creative projects from the Visual Arts, Communications Tech, Construction Tech and Manufacturing Tech classes.