As the school year draws to a close, local high schools choose their valedictorians for the class of 2023 to celebrate the excellence of students. Trailblazing students are chosen by peers based on the nominee’s character, commitment and contribution to the school and larger community.
Stay with us to learn more about these students in the spotlight as they get recognized across Halton District School Board high schools.
Iroquois Ridge High School
Vincent Jianyuan Sun
Vincent Jianyuan Sun has been involved in several clubs, including the debate and Math clubs
Sun enjoys programming and learning K-pop dances with his friends.
He will pursue computer science at the University of Waterloo and intends to build artificial intelligence applications for the greater good, hoping to create accessibility in his workplace.
Garth Webb Secondary School
Fiona Mero
Fiona Mero actively participated in several school clubs as well as cross country and senior girls' volleyball.
Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), you name it! She equally excelled at academics and received an honour roll award in the last three years.
Mero will be studying architectural engineering at the University of Waterloo and hopes to travel to other countries while in university, whether through an exchange program or co-op placement.
She dreams of being in the design industry "where I eventually work with clients, create my designs/blueprints, oversee and approve projects, and get to travel."
She also loves baking, biking, and gardening.
Oakville Trafalgar High School
Adam Anderson
Adam Anderson will attend Wilfrid Laurier University for a Bachelor of Business Administration program.
He dreams of holding a management position at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.
He is also passionate about coaching hockey for the Oakville Rangers.
"The opportunity to work alongside developing minds makes me feel I am positively impacting the next generation. One of my values is that every child can use a strong role model, and my biggest hope is that I have appeared as such."
Abbey Park High School
Alisa Kiss
Alisa Kiss organized major school initiatives while balancing the course load of three Advanced Placement courses, including Biology, Chemistry and Calculus, during her high school years.
Besides being the captain of the Senior Girls' Field Hockey team, she competed in other sports such as skiing, track, touch football and frisbee.
With a love for STEM and hands-on learning, she is set to study engineering at Queens University.
That said, her interest in the circus began in her backyard with learning how to go on the aerial silk from YouTube! Eventually, she took circus classes and became a coach. She continues to do drops, flips and hang upside down from her tree on her bright blue aerial silk.
T. A. Blakelock High School
Cassie Ephrem
Cassie Ephrem recently received the Black Excellence scholarship from the African Caribbean Council of Halton and the Brighter World entrance award from McMaster University for black students.
Besides running the Black Student Union with another classmate at school, she is passionate about Black youth representation and works with Halton Black Voices.
Ephrem loves swimming, cooking and baking.
She will soon join McMaster University's Integrated Science program so that she can have multiple career options open in the science field.
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White Oaks Secondary School
Afnan Shan
Afnan Shan was elected as a valedictorian based on his academic performance and leadership in the school and the community.
He wishes to pursue a double degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in Business Administration (BBA) and Computer Science (BSc).
"My career goal is to combine my business understanding with my passion for technology to make an impact in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation with AI."
Shan enjoys volunteering in the community and has been engaged in organizations such as the Halton Youth Initiative and the Halton Youth Science Committee.
He also loves table tennis and debating.