Sioux Mountain Public School - Class of 2020

SMPS Valedictory Address

Isabella Angeconeb and Sean Cole

Sean: Good afternoon, Principles, Teachers, Staff, Families and Most Importantly Fellow Graduates.
Isabella: My name is Isabella Angeconeb.
Sean: And My name is Sean Cole and we are honored to be the valedictorians of the graduating class of 2020.
Isabella: I would just like to start off by saying how proud I am of my fellow classmates and how far we have come.  In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” We will always remember this as a unique graduation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sean: One of the most memorable things from grade 7 was the Toronto Trip. The teachers did an airport simulation and basically everyone got a piece of paper that they called a boarding pass and you had to walk through “security”. You initially greet Mr. Ho and he says “Hello, Bonjour boarding pass please”. Ms. Palumbo was going through our bags to make sure that we didn’t have any gels or liquids. Mr. Tennyson was running the metal detector, every now and then he would make the alarm go off and scream beep a bunch of times until you stood off. Mr. Dixon was swabbing everyone's hands for substances. After everyone got through like 10 people or something like that lost their boarding pass. The teachers were not very pleased with that given they only had to walk 20 feet. The very first thing we did on the Toronto trip was the Blue Jays game. I remember trying to find our friends from Sacred Heart in the crowd because we were at the same game as them. Everyone was trying to get their attention; it was pretty fun. Another big thing from the Jays game was I couldn’t stop throwing up, I was dehydrated I think, on the bus ride home I puked like three times. Shoutout to Ms. Palumbo for taking care of me through that! One of the first nights we stayed in Toronto my friend Ayden thought it would be funny to put Doritos in my belly button when I was sleeping. He was right, it was pretty darn funny. One of the things we did in Toronto was we went to Medieval Times. When we were there, the energy in the arena was ecstatic! Flashing lights, roaring voices, the clashing of armour, sparks flying. I would like to say a thank you to Ms. Palumbo who did most of the organizing for the entire Toronto trip. The chaperons A.K.A Mr. Ho, Mr. Tennyson, Mr. Dixon, and Lisa who was the tour guide. They kept us safe, making sure we were on time for the bus and activities, when they did that they would bang on our doors at 6 a.m and wake us all up. When we were late (which was a lot). The teachers would get really mad at us and give us big long talks about how they can send us home.
Isabella: I couldn’t agree more with you. The Toronto trip was definitely a trip to remember. 
Some of you were even brave enough to go on the Yukon Striker, But I didn’t, I did go on many other rides with Gracie, Briley, and Lisa, our tour guide.
Kensington Market was another favorite memory. Where we got a chance to see and explore different cultures.
Niagara Falls we went on Maid of the Mist, and went to Clifton Hill, where we played some arcade games and went through laser mazes and haunted houses.
The Blue Jays baseball game I remember when Gracie and I got a picture with the Blue Jays mascot.
Toronto trip so much fun, thank you Gracie and Briley for sharing these moments with me. I also want to thank Ms. Palumbo for organizing the trip.
Sean: I love sports, and when there was a spot for a sports team I would try to get it. Mr. Tennyson was my soccer coach for grade 7 and unfortunately we didn’t get to play soccer this year because of ‘rona but I had a lot of fun last year. I remember Mr. Tennyson teaching us how to bounce the ball of your own chest and he said to flex really, really hard and it surprisingly worked. I’d like to say thank you to Ms. Palumbo again for coaching the baseball team and the badminton team last year. I remember the first time we got sized for our jerseys wayyyy back in grade four, we got pulled out of class so we could get measured for the jerseys for hockey academy. When I think of Hockey Academy I think of Mrs. Clark and Mr. Dumonski, I thank them for their efforts, they did so much behind the scenes like getting ice time, making sure we have our equipment ready, and cleaning up after us. I remember them giving us 15 minute long lectures on the bus about the huge mess we would leave after our last ice time. If I ever came a little late I would see Mr. Dumonski picking up tape, and Mrs. Clark tying up laces and doing up helmets. Every gym class everyone would get really competitive no matter what we did. Brier and I would always get put on different teams, so we were always battling it out.
Isabella: Remember the Cardboard boat race! It was a very fun experience - there were about 20 teams. Two teams from Sioux Mountain were in it - a boys team and a girls team. The girls team received a bronze medal. And boys, you really should have called your boat something other than the Titanic, because your boat sank!
Sean: I remember in math class one time I wasn’t doing my work properly; I wasn’t showing my work and Mr. Tennyson handed me back my worksheets and I got like 10/150 or something stupid like that. Throughout the past year we have been doing Connected North sessions where we dissected a squid, pig hearts and everyone was grossed right out and it stunk up the entire class room for at least a couple of days. Mr. Dixon was our grade 4 teacher for half a year. He was everybody’s favorite teacher. He did this thing we’re everyone got sorted into different houses, just like Harry Potter, Mr. Dixon loves Harry Potter, he did like 10 different assignments solely based on Harry Potter. Mr. Ho loves Taylor Swift he got a cutout of her for secret santa. When we did a wax museum he was Jimmy Fallon.
I’d like to thank my partner in crime Jordan. We did everything together. We sat at the back of the class and we were always laughing. If there was a project that needed two people, we did together. I’m really excited to continue this learning journey next year in grade 9. I want to thank all of my peers and teachers who have helped me grow as a student. Most importantly my parents who have helped me grow into a young man. Even though we are moving on, we will still be across the parking lot. I will look forward to working and collaborating with you all in future projects.
Isabella: I want to thank a couple of my teachers who helped me along the way and who had got me to this point.
Thank you to Mrs. McNear who taught me how to tie my shoes in Grade 3. Miigwech, Mrs. Wrolstad, you were an amazing native language teacher (and thank you for the candies). To Mr. Ho, thank you for the long conversations about shoes and Taylor Swift. Thank you Mrs. Palumbo for all of the fun moments during grade 7. And to all of our teachers - you were great - thank you!
So now we are leaving here with really fond memories that we are celebrating at this moment, and opening the door to the future and the next phase of our educational journey. We are all looking forward to what high school will bring but will always remember what Sioux Mountain taught us.
I’ll finish off by once again quoting Dr.Seuss - “You’re off to great places. Today is your day. Your mountain is waiting… So get on your way!”

Congratulations graduates!

Darryl Tinney - Sioux Mountain Public School Principal

As the school year comes to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Grade 8 Graduating Class of 2020!  Graduates, it has been an honour and a privilege to get to know all of you and work with you during your time at SMPS.  As a staff, we got to see you grow and mature academically and socially.  As you move across the field next year to SNHS we wish you the best of luck and success.  I challenge you to be curious, try new things, meet new friends and always try your best. 
This is not a normal school year!  I want to publicly acknowledge the resiliency of the students and parents/guardians/families during the school closure period brought on by the global pandemic.  I want to thank the staff for their resilience, initiative and innovation the past three months, to keep engaged with their students and provide routine, structure and predictability during these challenging times.  I want to thank our community partners, particularly the Nishawbe-Gamik Friendship Centre, Connected North, and Saakihitiwaac Tipenchikaywin Advisory Circle for continuing to provide learning opportunities for our students.  We could not offer such a robust education experience for our students without the continuing support from all of you!  We are in unprecedented times, and never before has the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” been more true.
At this time we are not sure what the 2020-2021 school year will look like.  As information becomes clear, it will be communicated to parents, students and stakeholders.  I do know that as a school and a community we will pull through this.  I wish all of the students, families and staff a safe and restful summer!

Sioux Mountain Public School Graduation Awards

KPDSB Good Citizenship Award
Camryn Dumonski
Sioux Lookout Public Library Award
Blaze Kakegamic
United Church & Anglican Church Women’s Group  Awards
Nikita Lyon and Sean Cole
Michel Leveque Core French Award
Rameen Idrees
Nishnawbe-Gamik Friendship Centre Artistic Achievement
Keira Quequish
Attendance Award
Hailee Robertson
Model Student of the Year Award
Female: Grace Rose
Male: Sean Cole
Award of Merit
Female: Izzy Angeconeb
Male: Conner Mathe
Sports Award
Female: Briley Haney
Male: Sean Cole
Most Improved Student Award
Mateo Fiddler
Ontario Principals Council Award
Mason Flatt
Sioux Hudson Literacy Council – Young Readers Award
Jordan Mekanak
Volunteer Award
Nodin Hunter
SMPS Hockey Canada Skills Academy Award
Female: Camryn Dumonski
Male: Brier Edwards
Valedictorian Award
Sean Cole and Isabella Angeconeb