By John Francis, Bruce Peninsula Press
Bruce Peninsula District School’s Elementary Graduation Ceremony was held at the school on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.
The evening began with a group photo at the lighthouse, followed by ceremony, awards and presentations at the school with Grade 8 teacher Melissa Rosenburg acting as emcee. Presentations included awards for excellence in each subject area and for other aspects of citizenship, plus school letters and diplomas.
Trustee (and Board Chair) Jane Thomson brought greetings from Bluewater District School Board.
Emjay Blacklock won the Art award; Excellence in Dance/Drama went to Nash Lisk. Zariah Mustari Cowen received the English award and Lily Stabenow won the French award. The Geography award went to Piper Finger, the History award to Jenna Steinbach. Excellence in Music went to Emmit Luff, Excellence in Math to JeeGu Chan. The Physical Education Awards went to Kyle Vanderkooy and Cougen Cameron. The final subject award, Excellence in Science, went to Dexter Golden.
The CUPE Local 1176 Award went to Emmit Luff, Mrs Rosenburg recognized Shamus Northcotte with the Virginia Wiley Most Improved Award and Ryder Anderson with the Growth, Mindset and Perseverance Award. The Mary Cameron Sense of Humour Award went to J T Burbridge on behalf of the Cameron family. The Leadership Award was presented to Lily Stabenow and the UNESCO Global Citizenship Award (sponsored by BPEG) to Adelaide Langman and Mary Hofstrand. The Bruce Power Science Award went to Lukasz Mocny; the Bruce County Beef Farmers Award recognized Cougen Cameron. The Greatest Improvement Award, sponsored by Hellyer’s Foodland, was presented to Alanna Huehn by Kara Hellyer. The Celtic Award went to Isabella McCorkell and Vincent Rivera. Emerie Cameron received the Citizenship Award, sponsored by the SWANS service club.
The Scholastic Award, presented on behalf of the Stokes Bay Community Centre, went to JeeGu Chan.
The final award, the General Proficiency Award, went to Wolf Doerr.
School Letters were awarded to Ryder Anderson-Burley, Piper Finger, Alanna Huehn, Wolf Doerr, Dexter Golden, Lukasz Mocny, JeeGu Chan, Kyle Vanderkooy and Adelaide Langman. Awards of Merit (which include School Letters) went to Cougen Cameron, Emerie Cameron, Lily Stabenow and Mary Hofstrand.
Isabella McCorkell offered a toast to the families. Valedictorians Mary Hofstrand and Lily Stabenow gently roasted and toasted their classmates.
Melissa Rosenburg brought the ceremony to a close with a toast to the Graduates. A slideshow was prepared by J T Burbridge and Lukasz Mocny. The ceremony was followed by a student dance.
