After a two-year hiatus, the Farewell Ceremony and prom dance made a comeback. Instead of two evenings, the two events were rolled into one. The assembly ended close to 8 p.m. and then the students had a prom dance which went on until 10 pm.
During the Farewell Ceremony, several of the memorial and special awards were presented to the graduating grade six class. Ms. Stairs, who had retired earlier in the year, was called up on stage to receive a gift. Ms. Paxton, the new principal gave closing remarks.
The Cycle 3 Resource Award went to Dylan Page. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Royal Canadian Legion, branch no. 99, has sponsored Canadian history and social studies awards for two people per class in Cycle Three. The winners are Leigh Nadeau and Sarah Jette in 6P, and Nikki Whitehead and Elias Wiebe in 6B.
The Elizabeth Hebert Memorial Award was presented to Zoe Gaboriault. The Gene Showers/Daisy Rodgers Memorial Award was presented to Leah Wright. The Unsung Hero Award was given to Traigh Anderson.
The Gloria Miller Memorial Award was given to Sabrina Ouimet. Her teacher, James Poirier had wanted to know about Gloria Miller. A phone call earlier in the day was put in to Evelyn Lewis, who recently turned 101. Evelyn had taught with Gloria Miller and she wanted to start a memorial award in Gloria’s honour. Glo- ria brought up four children on her own. She was originally from the country of Ghana. Gloria was known for bringing a smile to everyone’s face, no matter what difficulties she was herself facing.
Mr. Brandon Dressler, the parent chair of the Governing Board, gave his last speech in that capacity. He kept his speech short. The Valedictorian speeches were given by Kazzie Rivard, Lily Lacroix, and Emma Pasher. Their speeches were warmly received and also brought about laughter at the right moment.
Mr. David Villeneuve presented the Male And Female Athletes of the Year Award to Tristan Patch and Lily Lacroix.
This was followed by the granting of the Lacey Forster Memorial Award to Leila Distefano and the Jane Aston Memorial Trophy going to Megan Foster.
The ceremony lasted just over an hour and then parents quickly retreated to al- low the dance to get started. The gym was beautifully decorated with colourful bal- loons. The students were glad to have a dance and they hope that dances will be happening at Massey-Vanier next year on a semi-regular basis.
