VICTORIA -- A travelling awards ceremony for graduates of Reynolds Secondary School came as a welcome surprise for students earlier this week.
It all happened Thursday afternoon and evening. It was supposed to be a simple affair, one teacher, one award and grade 12 students being honoured in their own front yards with a certificate for school achievements.
At least, that’s what parents were told, while students were kept out of the loop entirely.
The principal of Reynolds Secondary School, Tom Aerts, had a different idea altogether. He was actually planning a much bigger event for each of the six students that were receiving school awards in academics and athletics.
“We decided to do a travelling awards tour show,” Aerts told CTV News.
“[We’re] presenting them with awards that they would have gotten at our normal awards ceremony if we were able to have it.”
The surprise door-to-door travelling awards show consisted of the principal, 10 or more staff and the school’s Road Runner mascot. The entourage arrived and set up an awards table on each student’s front lawn.
The students then came out with their families and heard speeches from staff members that normally would have been read at an awards ceremony.
The idea came from a friend of Aerts who works in the education system in Ontario.
The day began with staff and teachers assembled in the Reynolds school parking lot at 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The first award was then presented at 4 p.m.
The first Grade 12 award recipient was Simran Cheema. She was so surprised that she was at a loss for words during the entire ceremony.
“I was speechless, I was not expecting it at all,” Cheema told CTV news. “My parents said some people were coming over but this wasn’t what I was expecting.”
Her teachers read their speeches and handed her several awards and scholarships.
The Grade 12 student is described as a “Renaissance woman” and won the Reynold’s prestigious W. J. Garner Award, which came with a $5,000 scholarship.
Taken from the first paragraph of the speech, teachers say that, “her involvement in the Reynolds School community is a major understatement. Simran has fully committed herself to her school in academics, athletics, robotics, and musical theatre.”
Another award recipient on the tour was Nairn Payne-Bryan, who won the Principal Shield Award and a bursary of $2,500 from the McEwen family scholarship trust. She has previously won the Principle Shield award in grades 9, 10 and 11 as well.
“It’s incredibly kind of the staff, I can’t believe they did this for us,” said Payne-Bryan. “It’s nice to have this in-person event with some of the staff and I’m going to be sad to be saying goodbye this year.”
Staff describe the graduate as a strong leader who doesn’t seek the spotlight and makes sure that everyone has an opportunity to be involved and participate.
She will be attending Carleton University in the fall to study public affairs and policy management.
“What I hope they take away from this is that they are being recognized and they’re not being forgotten,” said Aerts.
“Though we can’t do this in the traditional way we normally do, we really want to recognize everything they’ve done and contributed to our school.”
The principal says he hopes all six of the students they handed awards out to feel proud of their accomplishments and enjoyed their moment in the spotlight.
