Resilience and tenacity are two qualities possessed in abundance by this year’s Woodstock Education Centre-area Turnaround Achievement Award winners.
The awards are given each year to recognize students who have overcome personal or academic obstacles to succeed in school and in life.
Students, staff, families, and local dignitaries gathered at two ceremonies in late May to honour the award recipients. The Best Western Plus Woodstock Hotel & Conference Centre played host, on May 24, to a Turnaround Achievement Award ceremony sponsored by Craig Manufacturing. Students from the Florenceville-Bristol area were honoured at a ceremony at Carleton North High School, on May 30, sponsored by the Bath Lions.
Craig Manufacturing awarded an undisclosed amount in scholarships to some award recipients. The Bath Lions did not award scholarships but are considering doing so in the future.
While the students’ determination to turn their lives around is impressive, it is important to recognize the teachers and counselors who encouraged and gave guidance to students while they struggled to improve their situations.
“We sponsor the program because we want to support and encourage the kids,” said Betty Lou Craig of Craig Manufacturing. “They have made a huge change and we want them to feel proud and to continue on that path.”
Turnaround students may be overlooked if their behaviour puts them outside the student-body mainstream, Craig said. So, she sees the award as a “well-earned pat on the back. We hope that the winners know that many people are cheering for them to succeed. The award shows them that they can do it.”
Jessica’s Story
Jessica Shaw, a Grade 11 student at Hartland Community School, was going through a rough time in her personal life several years ago, and it started to show in her behaviour at school.
“You know how some students will get middle school-itis, where they get a little bit of an attitude and they’re testing some boundaries and some limits?” said Hartland Community School teacher Amanda Carr. “Sometimes that can come across in some poor life choices.”
Jessica’s attitude and actions in middle school caused a great deal of concern for Carr: “There were some things that I was worried about for her in high school if she didn’t make some positive changes in terms of peer group, her choices, her language, and just general attitude and application to studies and all of that.”
“I was irritable. I was angry all the time, but I realized that if I want my life to be better, then I need to make a change,” said Shaw, who attributed her difficulties in middle school to her mother dying when she was young, and a contentious relationship to her father’s ex-partner.
Essential Skills Supervisor Craig Young also influenced her turnaround, she said: “We talked about how I was feeling and what I could do to make it better and change. He basically influenced my Turnaround.”
By the time Shaw reached Grade 10, she had started to improve, according to Carr.
“Once she got to high school, she started to make good choices and started to change,” she said. “This year in grade 11, she has more and more responsibilities and leadership roles.”
Shaw has been putting a great deal of energy into music. She is a talented singer, pianist, and guitarist.
While she has expressed a desire to perhaps become a music teacher one day, she says, “I’m not quite sure what I really want. I only know that I want to sing or do music with my life.”
Isaak’s Story
At one point, Donald Fraser Memorial School Grade 8 student Isaak Sappier might have been described by some as a “handful.”
“He was full of life and energy, which wasn’t always the easiest in elementary classes,” said Donald Fraser Memorial School Principal Rebecca Harding. “We spoke with his principal from Andover Elementary School, and the principal there said he started to see the wheels turn with Isaak before he left Andover.”
Harding says Isaak made a “remarkable turnaround’ upon his return to Donald Fraser in Grade 5.
“He’s one of my best helpers at school,” she said. He’s full of jokes all the time; makes friends laugh, makes teachers laugh. He’s just full of personality.”
Sappier, who enjoys playing lacrosse and hockey, as well as fishing with his father and cousin, was quite straightforward in his assessment of his turnaround: “I just sorta started doing more work in class.”
Torey’s Story
“I taught Torey when she was in Grade 9 and Torey was disorganized,” said Lauren Boyd, a teacher at Woodstock High School. “She was like a tornado every time she came into the classroom.”
Boyd went on leave for two years and, when she returned, the “Tornado Torey” she remembered had vanished, replaced by an organized, focused student: “Everything was picture perfect and I thought ‘wow, look at this kid. This is a complete turnaround.’”
“She was a leader in the class. She was on time every single day. She was eager to learn. She always kept up with the assignments. She was doing the readings. She was volunteering to read out loud. It was amazing.”
For her part, Torey Phillips Collier, a Grade 12 Woodstock High School student, attributes her difficulties to feeling isolated and depressed throughout most of her time in high school.
“I was going through quite the thing because just after Grade 8 something big happened to me and I was so disorganized. I kept showing up late for classes,” said Collier. “Then right after Covid hit, that put me into a big, depressing time.”
After failing a year and being held back, Collier started setting improvement goals for herself: “I said ‘look, I gotta get myself straight.’ So, I stayed with my dad and he started helping me get on track. Then I started doing better and setting goals for myself.”
She also attributes her turnaround to the support of friends.
“My friends with me tonight at the table are Leo Gillam (aka “Donnie”) and Damien Davenport,” said Collier. “They’ve been the biggest supporters so far, as have my dad and mom. I also want to thank Mrs. Boyd as well.”
According to Gerald Sullivan of the Bath Lions, Turnaround Achievement Awards are important because they acknowledge the “hard work, perseverance, and commitment that lead students through a difficult situation and allow them to be successful.”
“It’s hoped that this recognition will encourage them to continue to use the skills learned to assist them throughout their lives,” said Sullivan.
Daniel’s Story
It can be rough going, socially, for a young person—or anyone, really—with unique interests. And Florenceville Middle School Grade 8 student Daniel Clark can attest to this.
A fan of Dungeons and Dragons, as well as other high-level thinking games, Clark initially faced taunts from classmates, which caused him to react in socially unacceptable ways.
“He had big reactions to some things that other people might not think are that big a deal,” said Gillian Pelkey, a teacher at Florenceville Middle School. “He might react in a way that might get himself and maybe somebody else in trouble.”
However, Clark learned that “he doesn’t have to do anything if it’s not in his circle of control. He can just literally let them be and just worry about himself,” said Pelkey.
“One of the things I would do when people provoked me is take a second, stop and take a couple of deep breaths,” said Clark. “It allows you to think of what the best course of action is and not react or do something that would not be the smartest thing to do in this situation.”
Clark’s turnaround has had a surprising outcome too, as some of the students that used to taunt him have matured.
“I am friends with some of them now that I’ve gotten better with managing my emotions.”
Raven’s Story
“My parents were going through court battles,” said Carlton North High School Grade 12 student Raven Dow. “And then I was like the new mom in the house, cleaning and watching kids and stuff like that for four or five years.”
Dow believes her problems started in Grade 4 when her parents got divorced. During her middle school and early high school years, school was where she came to get a break from the strife in her personal life.
“So, school wasn’t as important as it is to her now,” said Carleton North High School teacher Annette Sprague. “She was taking care of her younger siblings and preparing meals and doing all the things that you wouldn’t normally have to do at her age.”
Dow credits her turnaround to a move from her parental home to the home of a friend.
“When I moved in with the new people, they helped me” by providing a stable home environment, she said. Her friend’s family also helped her write her resume and gave her helpful life advice.
This stability led to Dow completing high school and preparing to graduate this month.
“Raven, like any teenager, has had some obstacles in her way and hard, hard knocks, but she’s just made a complete turn around and I could just hug her,” said Sprague.
Dow’s life experiences have given her a determination tempered by the realities of life.
“I’m just going to work and save my money for college until I know what I want to do,” she said. “I realize that you have to do stuff for yourself if you want to get somewhere. You can’t rely on other people.”