Published by Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services on July 3, 2025
Sault Ste. Marie – As the school year ends and summer begins, Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services (OAHS) and Neech-ke-Wehn Homes are happy to celebrate Algoma’s Grade 8 graduates with the “Carolyn Harrington Award” which acknowledges the excellence of Indigenous students who are graduating elementary school and beginning their journey to high school. This year, we received a record-breaking 39 nominations for students across the Algoma region.
Nominated by school faculty members, awards of “Best Student” and “Most Improved Student” were gifted with a $100 bursary. The “Best Student” title was given to a graduate who received high marks and greatest all-around participation in school activities, and “Most Improved Student” to a graduate whose grades and activity participation improved the most throughout the year.
This award began in the 1980s when the late Carolyn Harrington was a community worker at the Sault Ste. Marie Indigenous Friendship Centre. Carolyn Harrington was one of the founders of Neech-ke-Wehn Homes and was its President, with the award previously named the Neech-ke-Wehn Grade 8 Award. The award has continued for over the past 40 years, and as of 2023 was named in her honour.
“We are deeply moved by another year of record-breaking nominations, now with 39 students receiving the Carolyn Harrington Award this year. Named in honour of our dear friend Carolyn, this award celebrates the excellence and resilience of Indigenous students in our community,” says Thömas Kakapshe, former Executive Director of Neech-ke-Wehn and Shkabewis at OAHS. “Carolyn would be beaming with pride to see these students celebrated—not just for their achievements today, but for the strength, hope, and leadership they carry into the future. She believed deeply in the power of Indigenous youth to shape communities and inspire meaningful change through their life journey.”
OAHS and Neech-ke-Wehn would like to thank all the schools that nominated their students with such glowing and heartfelt nominations and illustrate how deserving their students are!
Congratulations go out to the following Algoma students for receiving this award:
Anna McCrea Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Tatum Young – Best Student
Blind River Public School (Blind River)
River Sheplawy – Best Student
Robin Commanda – Most Improved Student
Central Algoma Intermediate School (Desbarats)
Dakota Bennett – Best Student
Danika Boulter – Most Improved Student
Chapleau Public School (Chapleau)
Isaiah Cachagee – Best Student
Brayden Panamick – Most Improved Student
F.H. Clergue French Immersion Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Damien Hollingshead – Most Improved Student
Grand View Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Cayden Korab – Most Improved Student
H.M. Robbins Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Rocky Andreola – Best Student
Ellie Cress – Most Improved Student
Holy Cross Catholic Elementary School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Jaydn Frech – Most Improved Student
Holy Family Catholic School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Bailey Wood – Best Student
Kaleb Taylor – Most Improved Student
Hornepayne Public School (Hornepayne)
Tripp Arenovich – Best Student
Ronan Lewis – Most Improved Student
Korah Intermediate School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Sophie Palumbo – Best Student
Evan Juby – Most Improved Student
Mountain View Public School (Goulais River)
Hannah May-Goodfellow – Best Student
Harlow Siitse – Most Improved Student
Northern Heights Public School (Goulais River)
Niall Marceau-Fagan – Best Student
Jack Gagnon – Most Improved Student
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Elementary School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Danika Ross – Best Student
Braedon Kenny – Most Improved Student
Pinewood Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Niizh Wemigwans – Best Student
Chloe Perreault – Most Improved Student
Queen Elizabeth Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Celeste Thompson-McGuire – Best Student
Evelyn Franic – Most Improved Student
River View Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Deanna Hache – Most Improved Student
St. Basil Catholic Elementary School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Zachery St. Jules Jordan – Best Student
Chance Chiblow – Most Improved Student
St. Paul Catholic Elementary School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Bailey Serrao – Best Student
Zoey Robinson – Most Improved Student
Superior Heights Intermediate School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Zyler Dougherty – Best Student
Maxim Lavoie – Most Improved Student
Tarentorus Public School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Averi Thiessen – Best Student
Vaylee-Rayne Sarrasin – Best Student
White Pines Intermediate School (Sault Ste. Marie)
Neveah Alpha Elie – Best Student
Callihan Hayward – Most Improved Student
Congratulations to all the Grade 8 graduates, and we wish them the best of luck as they enter secondary school this fall!
