Dignitaries, school district officials, and teachers joined proud parents, counsellors, and guardians Wednesday night at the Crowne Plaza in Fredericton to honour area students who have overcome major challenges in their academic careers.
The 29th annual Kingswood Turnaround Achievement Awards honoured 27 Fredericton- and Oromocto-area Anglophone School District West students who successfully strived to improve their behaviour and academic performance despite significant personal challenges. This was the first in-person ceremony since 2019.
Turnaround Achievement Award winners (l-r) Alyssa Beaulieu and Jacob Nearing, both Grade 12 students at Minto Memorial High School.
“I know that life will be full of challenges, and I would never be able to meet those if I didn’t complete the challenge of high school,” said Minto Memorial High School Grade 12 student Jacob Nearing.
Jacob’s early high school years were difficult for him, personally. However, beginning in his Grade 12 year, he narrowed his focus to academics and athletics, becoming class president and co-captain of the varsity basketball team. In addition to the $1000 bursary given to every Grade 12 award recipient, Jacob also won the $1000 Omega Restaurant Scholarship. He will start the Industrial Electrician course at NBCC in September.
“There are many pieces—social, academic—that are so influential in why kids are not doing well in school,” said Linda Dempsey-Nicholson, district Community Schools Coordinator and awards ceremony coordinator. “Then something happens. A light comes on, and they start coming to school, and taking more pride in their work.”
Devon Middle School Grade 8 student Keisha McIntyre admits she struggled with “drama” in grades 6 and 7. “I wasn’t in math a lot because I was in the bathroom upset,” said Keisha.
According to Devon Middle School Counsellor Andrea Patterson, personal issues Keisha was dealing with made her grade 6 and 7 years challenging. But she turned things around in Grade 8: “She doesn’t know how resilient she is,” Patterson said.
“If I stop the drama, I get better grades in school,” said Keisha, who describes herself as kind, loving, and silly. “I didn’t expect to get this award because I had so much drama in the past two years, but I turned it around because no one likes drama.”
Since their inception in 1994 by Kingswood president Brian Johnson, the Turnaround Achievement Awards have honoured 1,040 students from 22 schools throughout the Fredericton and Oromocto areas, giving $516,000 in scholarships.
And Dakota Nash is yet another of those scholarship recipients. The Oromocto High School Grade 12 student, and member of Oromocto First Nation, returned from living in Maine to start Grade 9 just as Covid hit.
Learning both in school and online at unpredictable times during Covid made it “very hard to keep a schedule because it was so different every day,” said Dakota. “Coming to school was the hardest part. Then sometimes, even when I got to school, I didn’t want to go to my classes.”
Dakota admitted she failed some classes because “I was doing what I wanted to do and not focusing on schooling, so I set myself back.”
However, she began to take control of her academic life when she started a drum group at school.
“Working with Indigenous students here made me realize that someday I really want to be a leader somewhere,” said Dakota. “I motivate myself by motivating others as well.”
And being nominated for a Turnaround Achievement Award by Vice-Principal Molly Nugent “was a very big confidence booster to continue doing the drumming and all the different things that I was doing,” she said.
In addition to her $1000 bursary, Dakota also won a $1000 scholarship from Eastern College, where she is enrolled to begin the Personal Support Worker course in September.
Receiving the Turnaround Achievement Award “makes me feel like I’ve done something that means something to somebody,” she said.
In addition to the 27 student award recipients, two district educators were also honoured with the Kingswood Turnaround Educator Award. School Counsellor Lynn McGinn, of Gibson Neill Memorial Elementary School, received the award for her advocacy on behalf of students who struggle socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. McGinn also offers professional development to school staff to build support for positive social and emotional learning environments for students.
Fredericton High School Music & Language Arts teacher Greg Webber received the award for his tireless dedication to his students. Webber puts extra effort into all his endeavours. Whether directing for the school’s 60-member concert band, teaching the recording and sound design course, or supervising the school’s student-run professional technical crew, he helps his students both live up to and surpass their potential.
