It seems our local schools are continuing their stellar performance in encouraging our youth to excellence, both in athletics, and academics, providing their students with the tools for future success. We've seen local, district and provincial champions turned out. Not a few have attained national prominence, in sports, debate, scholastic competition and drama.
The first recent example of excellence, the 2010 Yorkton Regional High School Yearbook, Dare to Stand Out", topped 26 entries from around the province as victor in the Saskatchewan School News-paper/Yearbook competition.
The annual competition is sponsored by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation along with the Regina Leader-Post and the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.
According the Kevin Blevins, deputy editor of the Regina Leader-Post, Dare to Stand Out was appealing because of its ability to, in fact, stand out.
YRHS also claimed the best grad section for category 2 schools (enrollment of 500 to 850). Adjudicator Blevins noted, "It was one of the best organized grad sections among this year's entries."
The Sacred Heart Beat, a consistent winner in past years, claimed the title again for a school newspaper in a school with an enrollment of 150 to 499 students. Blevins confirmed, "The Sacred Heart Beat remains full of information on all aspects of the school with lots of participation from the student body including excellent sports and art sections."
The Saltcoats School Gazette was a first time winner in the elementary and middle years schools newspapers category.
Adjudicator Blevins applauded the students work with the statement, "It wasamazing to see Grade 5s and 6s tackling a student newspaper."
Congratulations to students and teachers who dedicate their time, talent and energy to achieving excellence in their chosen fields.
Kudos in the case of the newspaper/ yearbook competitions to Mrs. Stanek-Sebastian and Ms. Smith at YRHS, Mr. Greg Digout at Sacred Heart High School and Mrs. Farquharson at Saltcoats School for caring enough about turning out great young citizens to go the extra mile.
