OSSTF/FEESO Student Achievement Awards 2013

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 9, 2013) - This afternoon at the annual meeting of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO), students from across Ontario were honoured for their outstanding abilities and creativity as provincial winners of the Student Achievement Awards in honour of Marion Drysdale.

For almost forty-years, the Student Achievement Awards have been one of Ontario's most prestigious awards celebrating the artistic and academic creations of students in public high schools. Students may enter work into one of eight categories and submissions are judged on school, district, regional and provincial levels. The eight provincial winners are brought to Toronto to receive their awards at the OSSTF/FEESO annual meeting and they are featured in a twenty minute video. Each provincial winner also receives a cash award of $1,000.

This year's theme was (Dis) OBEDIENCE: STAND BY / STAND UP where students explored the topics of protest and civil action. Fittingly, this year's guest presenter of the awards was Brigette DePape, a Canadian youth activist best known for her disruption of the Senate with her "Stop Harper" sign in 2011.

OSSTF/FEESO President Ken Coran and Brigette DePape presented the awards to the provincial winners.

The awards presented for poem or essay submissions in six prose/poetry categories were:

• intermediate grades 9-10 academic;
• intermediate grades 9-10 applied/essential;
• senior grades 11-12 university;
• senior, grades 11-12 college/workplace;
• French.

And for creative entries there were three categories:

• intermediate visual art;
• senior visual art; and
• digital media.

The competition is open to all Ontario public high school students.

TELEVISION NEWS PRODUCERS PLEASE NOTE:

The Student Achievement Awards ceremony features a professionally produced twenty minute video about the students and their winning submissions. This video will be distributed on request for broadcast approximately one week after the ceremony. Please contact the OSSTF/FEESO provincial office to arrange delivery.

PROVINCIAL WINNERS

Prose and Poetry Division

Category A1 - Intermediate, 9-10 Academic

Region 4: Alyssa Esparaz, Dunbarton High School, Pickering, District 13

Category A2 - Intermediate, 9-10 Applied/Essential

Region 4: Michelle McCulloch, North Park Secondary School, Brampton, District 19

Category A3 - Senior, 11-12 University

Region 3: Megan Baillie, Innisdale Secondary School, Barrie, District 17

Category A4 - Senior, 11-12 College/ Workplace

Region 3: Samantha Swartz, St. Clair Secondary School, Sarnia, District 10

Category A5 - French

Region 4: Jordan Thiessen, Welland Centennial Secondary School, Welland, District 22

Creative Division

Category B1 - Visual Arts, Intermediate, 9-10

Region 5: Eden Robertson, Cobourg District Collegiate Institute East, Cobourg, District 14

Category B2 - Visual Arts, Senior, 11-12

Region 3: Hayley Powling, Banting Memorial High School, Alliston, District 17

Category B3 - Digital Arts, 9-12, French or English

Region 4 Lankesh Patel & Sajni Shah, North Park Secondary School, Brampton, D. 19

OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.