News Release
5/29/2017
Aurora, ON - Twenty-four outstanding students were honoured at the York Region District School Board's annual Celebrating Student Success dinner and awards ceremony. Students were honoured in the presence of their families, teachers, trustees and Board staff.
"Celebrating Student Success recognizes exceptional students, the work of our teachers and the role of parents and families in supporting students’ accomplishments,” said Chair of the Board, Loralea Carruthers. “These 24 recipients are representative of the 123,000 students who achieve success every day in our Board.”
“Celebrating Student Success honours the impressive achievements of students who are ambassadors, mentors, change makers and leaders. They are students who dedicate themselves to helping others, who overcome personal challenges to achieve success and who make a difference in their schools and communities,” said Interim Director of Education, Kathryn Wallace.
The 2017 Celebrating Student Success recipients included ten students from Thornhill (Markham and Vaughan):
Alan Nemirovski
Louis-Honore Frechette P.S.
Alan has been a key contributor to many school fundraisers and initiatives including Eco-Club, Leadership Club, Earth Day, the creative writing club, “Lundi Loisirs” (Monday playdays) and Days of Pink. He has started the process of creating a Ted X for youth to be held in Vaughan in 2018. This year, he went on exchange to Bourgogne, France and kept a blog about his travels to share with his peers in French and in English.
Ariel Oleynikov
Westmount C.I.
Ariel is a part of our ARTS West Drama program and is heavily involved in all that being an ARTS student entails. Ariel is also a key member of “Westmount Radio 1”. This is our morning announcement team. Ariel is also a key leader on our “Wolfpack,” a Grade 9 mentorship and transition program. She has helped to create the first ever Wolfpack manual and helps to train new Wolfpack leaders. Most importantly, Ariel is the co-chair of our “Shield Initiative” club – a group of students who have developed a “shield seat” that allows a young child who is in hospital fighting a life-threatening illness, to ride on their IV pole instead of having to be carried. Ariel has been a key player in getting this product produced and out to those in need.
Haolei Andy Wang
Vaughan S.S.
He has been the school champion in multiple national math contests such as the Waterloo Fermat, Canadian Senior Math Contests, as well as the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge. This year, he ranked in the top 50 in Canada on the Waterloo Avogadro Chemistry exam. He is also the team leader of the Programming Competition Team and has led the school team to participate in many contests. Andy runs tutoring sessions after school for those students who are seeking extra help in math and physics. Andy is also a conductor and a percussionist in our school’s senior band as well as president of the VSS Math Club. In just one year, the club has grown from only 9-10 participants, to a well-organized club with more than 40 students regularly hosting math related events in school. In his grade 11 year, he started the Volunteer Club that offers a variety of volunteer opportunities and information through a simplified by using an online volunteer platform that offers different kinds of pre-approved volunteer opportunities to students. An international student himself, Andy volunteered as a translator at the Board’s International Student Orientation in the summer of 2015.
Maxim Baevsky
Stephen Lewis S.S.
This past summer Max applied for and was selected and trained by the TED organization to represent them at the TEDx Youth event in the Toronto area as a TEDx Youth Ambassador. Max has been asked to continue in this role of TEDx Youth Ambassador for next year’s program. Max is an incredible artist and to share his passion for art with his peers, Max was instrumental in the creation of the SLSS Art Club. As Art Club President he organizes events which showcase our student’s art work such as open mic nights, drama productions, musical theatre productions and a school based TED event.
Smit Parikh
Stephen Lewis S.S.
Smit is the President of the SLSS Student Ambassadors Group which is a group of students who help ease the transition to high school for all grade 9 students. Smit is also the Head of Photography for the SLSS Yearbook Committee. He manages to do all of this while holding down a part-time job, where he works in an x-ray clinic and volunteering at the Maple Public Library. At the library he teaches senior citizens how to use technology (computers and iPads) and access computer programs and websites that are of interest to them. Smit has also given back to his community by canvassing for the Red Cross to raise funds to help those in need.
Ali Alidoosti
Thornhill S.S.
Ali is responsible for founding the Thornhill S.S. Heritage Band which is comprised of students who play various instruments from their home country or heritage. Ali's involvement in the TSS Hand in Hand Club has strengthened the school's community by supportinh the transition of ESL students and promoting inter-ethnic knowledge, dialog and respect. Ali is responsible for spearheading the establishment of the school's first "Multi-faith Community Space" which is dedicated to quiet reflection, meditation and prayer for all students.
Ben Levy
Thornhill S.S.
Ben has attained distinguished results at DECA Provincial and DECA International Business competitions. In DECA Ontario, he currently serves as Chapter Development Officer and has contributed to the modernization of the Ontario training manua; workshop presentations; and the creation of the Provincial Resource Hub. He is actively involved in Operation Med School where he has served as Director of Finance and is now President. Through Operation Med School, $2,000 were raised and donated to Sick Kids’ Hospital earlier this year. As well, Ben helped organize a 300-participant conference at which students aspiring to be medical practitioners were coached and mentored by doctors and other health care professionals.
Rose Yang
German Mills P.S.
Rose is an avid volunteer helping with many student-led initiatives such as the extra curricular floor hockey tournament and in the school office during recess breaks. Rose is a library helper who was instrumental in preparing and delivering book talks for students across all grades as well as managing customers at the annual Book Fair. Rose is an active member of the Student Leadership Team and she emcees the Character Matters Assemblies.
Sanaz Lordfard
Johnsview Village P.S.
She is an enthusiastic member of the Healthy Schools Committee where she helps to lead school-wide DPA at assemblies, distributes healthy snacks and writes announcements that communicate healthy living practices with the whole school. Sanaz has been involved in our Student Council, once as a class representative, then as a member of our social committee, followed by a year as Vice-President and finally in the role of President this year. She has taken on the task of spearheading a campaign to encourage tolerance and inclusivity which will incorporate announcements, posters, and assemblies aimed towards building stronger relationships within our classrooms and school.
Sanjna Ullal
Thornhill S.S.
Sanjna is involved extensively in the Social Justice League and the school’s Cancer Society. A hallmark demonstration of Sanjna’s initiative and perseverance is her strong leadership with the Outdoor Learning Project. in her planning for the Outdoor Learning Project, she welcomed the expertise of staff from Human Endeavour in Vaughan. In addition to this, Sanjna is involved in a fundraising effort to aid the needs of visually impaired learners overseas.
A video and summaries of each student are available on the Board website. Photographs and interviews with students may be arranged.
York Region District School Board is the third largest school district in Ontario with over 123,000 students in 176 elementary schools and 32 secondary schools. York Region students consistently perform above average in provincial testing and the Board is one of the top achievers in Ontario. For more information about the York Region District School Board, please visit the Board website and follow @YRDSB on Twitter.
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