Congratulations To Our 2016 High School Grads!

Congratulations Cara!
Cara at her Grade 12 Commencement

Grade 12 Grad Banquet

Cara dancing with the

North Shore Celtic Ensemble

Last month NPIDA had two current dancers and two recently retired dancers graduate from high school. Congratulations Cara, Sophie, Rhiannon and Raven! Today we feature Cara:

CARA
Cara has been dancing at NPIDA since she was eight years old. She is an Open Championship dancer and joined Eire Born in 2009, serving as team captain on many occasions. She was an Assistant Teacher at NPIDA for four years.

Cara says "Teaching has been one of the highlights of my time with NPIDA - I have absolutely loved helping each dancer improve and grow. I am so proud of all the dancers and feel privileged that I was able to be a part of their Irish dance lives. I will miss everything about teaching - from doing drills in class to cheering dancers on at feiseanna to preparing original routines for the year end Ceili. I will definitely be back to visit!"

Cara competed at the Oireachtas five times and also represented NPIDA at the North American Championships four times, recalling at NAN's in 2012.

Cara has graduated from Sentinel Secondary in West Vancouver. She was involved in many clubs including Me to We Club for two years, serving sandwiches to people living in the downtown eastside; a fundraising event to raise money for a school in Kenya; and canned food drives. 

In the community, Cara has been a member of the North Shore Celtic Ensemble for seven years. This fiddle group has performed in many local and international shows, including touring Quebec and the Maritimes last summer. Cara will be travelling to Scotland with the NSCE this summer where they will be participating in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. She also has been an active RAD ballet student, completing graded levels 5-8 (final level) and performing at Centennial Theatre with Vanleena Dance Academy.

Cara has been volunteering - including several leadership roles - in both her school and community: fundraising for the SPCA by participating in the Paws for a Cause Walk each year during highschool; fundraising with the Me to We Club; and organizing an interactive fiddle concert for the Lower Mainland Down Syndrome Society (an event for all ages with interactive music and movement).

With the Celtic Ensemble, she assisted with fundraising for a Syrian refugee family; performances at senior living centres/hospice; and a fundraising benefit for Nepal earthquake victims. Since January 2016 Cara has also been part of the sponsorship team to bring a Syrian refugee family to North Vancouver and teaching English to the three children. 

Cara has been the recipient of many scholarships and awards:

- Flying Colours Dancewear Scholarship (Grades 10, 11, 12)
- Artona Scholarship for Design (Grade 12)
- Principal's List and Honour Roll (Grades 8-12)
- Chemistry 12 Book Award (Top Student)
- AP Language 12 Book Award (Top Student)
- AP 3D Design 12 Book Award (Top Student)
- 2013 NPIDA Garlene Pickett Memorial Trophy $75 winner
- 2012 EBIDS Garlene Pickett Memorial Trophy $100 winner

Cara has been accepted to the two universities she applied to, UBC and SFU. She was offered the UBC McFarlane-Karp Major Entrance Scholarship and the SFU Alumni Leadership Major Entrance Scholarship. She has accepted the SFU offer and has deferred her start date for one year; she will begin her studies at SFU in September 2017 in their International Studies program.

Cara will be taking a "gap year" before starting at SFU and has many plans for the year ahead! She will be heading to Scotland with the Celtic Ensemble this summer (Aberdeen International Youth Festival and the Skye Festival on Isle of Skye). She will then be exploring Europe; Ireland, England, France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia. She will continue volunteering next year, including tutoring the Syrian refugee family, and is planning to volunteer at the Multicultural Society. She also plans to pursue her language interests, including starting Arabic lessons.

Cara won't be dancing next year but says she will definitely be stopping by NPIDA to teach a few classes as a substitute teacher! 

Congratulations Cara!

Cara performing with the

North Shore Celtic Ensemble

Cara (2012)

Cara (2013)

Cara at the 2016 NPIDA Winter Ceili 

In flight at the 2013 NPIDA Ceili

Congratulations To Our 2016 High School Grads!

Congratulations Rhiannon!

Rhiannon and her family

Rhiannon and her brother

Rhiannon and her music teacher

at Rhiannon's final 2016 recital -

they performed a duet together

Last month NPIDA had two current dancers and two recently retired dancers graduate from high school. Congratulations Cara, Sophie, Rhiannon and Raven! Today we feature Rhiannon:

RHIANNON

Rhiannon has been dancing at NPIDA since she was five years old. She is a Preliminary Championship dancer and joined Eire Born in 2010, serving as team captain on many occasions. In 2012 she became an Assistant Teacher at NPIDA and says "sharing my passion and love for Irish dance with younger dancers always brought me great joy". 

Rhiannon competed at the Oireachtas twice in both solos and Ceili teams. She also competed at the 2013 World Championships in Boston as a member of the U-16 and 18+ 8-Hand Ceili teams. Unfortunately she suffered a devastating injury in the fall of 2014 just before the Oireachtas, tearing her ACL, MCL and meniscus in her right knee.

Following reconstructive surgery she was unable to return to competitive Irish dance. However, she has remained involved in NPIDA by helping out and supporting Eire Born shows. She was a troupe captain for the 2016 St. Patrick's shows, and even danced in a couple of performances - her first time dancing in nearly two years.

Rhiannon has graduated from Windsor Secondary School in North Vancouver. She was involved in a variety of clubs, including Interact, Student Council, Green Team, Year Book and Ambassadors. She was also active in several Windsor sports, including soccer, basketball and cross-country. In the community, Rhiannon has been an active participant in the North Shore Girls Soccer Academy, the West Vancouver Youth Band (cello), and the North Shore High School Honour Orchestra (cello).

Rhiannon has been volunteering - including several leadership roles - in both her school and community: Secretary of the Interact Club Executive; Bumpin Bakery (food aid to homeless citizens on the downtown eastside); The North Vancouver Harvest Project; Golder Trust for Orphans; BC Lung Association Trek for Life and Breath (200km fundraising bike ride); and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. 

She has been the recipient of many awards and scholarships;

- Honour Roll With Distinction (all years)

- Athletic Certificate (Grade 10)

- Service Certificate (Grade 11)

- Service Gold Medal (Grade 12)

- Top Strings Student (Grades 11 and 12)

- Trajan Martin Memorial Scholarship (Grade 12)

- Dorothy Lynas Elementary School PAC French Immersion Scholarship

She also was a $500 winner of the 2014 PMAE (Pat McAndless Award For Excellence), and was the recipient of NPIDA's "Most Improved Work Ethic" award in 2012.

Rhiannon was accepted to all six universities that she applied to, receiving multiple entrance scholarship offers, and has accepted the offer from McGill University in Montreal. She will be pursuing a B.Sc. in Kinesiology beginning in September. Meanwhile, this summer she is working and volunteering (mainly at The Door Is Open shelter in downtown Vancouver). 

Congratulations Rhiannon!

Rhiannon at the 2011 POD Feis

Rhiannon at the 2013 Van Eire Feis

Rhiannon at the 2013 World Championships

Rhiannon in 2012-2013

Congratulations Hanna: Masters Grad!

 

Hanna

 

The Pickettline Blog has a long-established practice of celebrating high school and university graduations of our current and retired dancers; please see ‘Graduations’ listed on the sidebar at right!

Today we congratulate Hanna S, who has recently graduated from the University of Leicester in England with a Masters degree (With Distinction) in Museum Studies.

This degree (2014-15) included a two-month practicum as Exhibitions Researcher for an upcoming WWI Centenary exhibit about the Battle of the Somme at Palace Green Library in Durham, England. At her convocation ceremony at the University of Leicester this week, Hanna was awarded the Eilean Hooper-Greenhill Prize for the highest dissertation mark in her graduating class. Her dissertation was titled 'Be yours to hold it high: WWI Centenary Interpretation in English Museums'. 

This past year Hanna has presented her WWI research at conferences in London and Washington DC. Immediately following completion of her Masters in September 2015, she began her PhD at the University of Oxford on a full-tuition scholarship, researching the cemeteries and memorials of British colonial soldiers on WWI’s Western Front. (Hanna's Oxford research profile here).

Hanna is also currently working as the UK Vimy Prize Coordinator for the Vimy Foundation and will be co-leading groups of Canadian highschool students to WWI cemeteries, museums and battlefields in France later this year.

Hanna graduated from UBC in 2014 with a BA in History and Classical Archaeology. While at UBC and NPIDA she also worked as a Research Assistant in Islamic and Indian history for two UBC History professors, and as a Collections Technician at the Richmond Museum.

Hanna began dancing with NPIDA in 1998 at age six and was an original member of Eire Born, frequently serving as team captain before retiring from Eire Born in 2011 (returning for subsequent St. Pat's shows). During her competitive career she competed in 12 Oireachtas competitions, two North American Championships (2007 and 2009), and at the 2013 World Championships in Boston as a member of NPIDA’s senior 8-Hand team. She retired from competition in May 2014. In 2013 and 2014 she was the 1st Prize winner of NPIDA’s Patrick McAndless Award for Excellence.

Congratulations Hanna, and good luck with your PhD studies at Oxford!

Hanna over the years at NPIDA

Hanna, Kelly, Margaret, Natalie, Kali and Courtney
St. Patrick's Day 2009

Congratulations To Our 2015 HighSchool Grads!

Congratulations Laurel!

Congratulations to senior NPIDA dancers Laurel S, Mikaela P, Esme M and Maria M, who all graduated from Grade 12 last month! Today we feature Laurel:

LAUREL
Laurel has been dancing at NPIDA for 11 years, since age seven. She is an Open Championship dancer, and has been a North American Championships qualifier and recaller, as well as a World Qualifier. She was a member of Eire Born for seven years, performing in hundreds of shows including the 2010 Olympics, and serving as Team Leader in many. She was an NPIDA Assistant Teacher for four years.

Laurel represented NPIDA at the Western Canadian Oireachtas in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013 (missing 2010 and 2014 due to illness and injury). She competed at the North American Championships three times (Chicago, Anaheim and Montreal), recalling in Montreal (2014) and placing 52nd in Ladies U-18. Laurel also competed twice at the World Championships; Boston (2013) as a member of NPIDA's senior 8-Hand team, and as a solo competitor in London (2014).

Laurel has graduated from Windsor Secondary School in North Vancouver. She was involved in a variety of clubs, including the Interact Club during all five years of high school, doing fundraising for African schools. She was also a member of the Welcome Club at Windsor, providing orientation and support for International students. She was chosen to participate in We Day for three years.

                   

In the community, Laurel has also served as a volunteer at The Dugout, a soup kitchen in the downtown eastside, as well as at CityFest in North Vancouver. At NPIDA she co-organized initial Halloween Movie Nights and assisted for an additional four years.

 

Laurel has been the recipient of several awards and scholarships at the annual NPIDA Ceili, including the EBIDS Garlene Pickett Memorial award in 2013 and the NPIDA Garlene Pickett Memorial award in 2012.

 

Laurel was accepted at the following universities: University of Western Ontario, SFU, UVIC, Carleton, Ryerson, and McGill. She has accepted the offer from the University of Western Ontario, where she plans to major in Psychology. She has been offered an entrance scholarship from UWO.

              

Laurel hopes to dance at the 2016 North American Championships, but this will be dependent on her university schedule.

 Congratulations Laurel!

 

Laurel - the early years

Laurel at Oireachtas

NAN's 2014

NAN's 2014

 

Congratulations Jessica: UBC Grad!

Jessica's UBC Grad portrait

Jessica with her parents Gord and Helen
UBC Convocation day, May 22

Jessica and her proud parents

Jessica with sister Kathryn and mom Helen

Jessica H is a long-time NPIDA dancer, having started dancing with Nora at age six. She advanced to Open Championships in 2009 at age 16, and was a member of Eire Born for eight years. Jessica has competed at two North American Championships: Orlando Florida (2010) and Montreal Quebec (2014). She also competed at two World Championships: London (2014) and Montreal (2015).

She is presently training for the 2015 North American Championships in Rhode Island, although has not yet decided conclusively whether she will attend.

Jessica graduated from UBC on May 22 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (minor in French).

School Involvement and Volunteer Service
Jessica volunteered as a research assistant and project manager at the UBC Social Cognition and Emotion Lab (started in May 2014). She also volunteered as a research assistant at the UBC Social Identity Lab. She has worked part-time at GHR Medical Inc (her parent’s office) as an Office Assistant throughout her time at UBC.

Future Plans
Jessica has recently been accepted to BCIT where she will be completing a two year diploma in Human Resources. As for her future dance plans, Jessica says "I'm planning to continue classes at NPIDA and hopefully compete at the 2015 Oireachtas in November if my schedule will allow it!"

Congratulations Jessica!

Jessica and sister Emma
Last weekend at the POD Feis, May 2015

Jessica with Nora at 2014 Worlds, London

Jessica in recent years

Jessica in 2008-2009

World Qualifier at the 2014 Oireachtas

Congratulations To Our 2014 High School Grads!

Congratulations to Mackenzie C, Emma B and Catalina G who graduated from Grade 12 last month! These three graduates are all senior NPIDA dancers, Assistant Teachers and members of Eire Born.

Mackenzie and sister Camryn

Mackenzie

Mackenzie

Mackenzie

MACKENZIE
Mackenzie has been dancing with NPIDA for many years and is a longtime Eire Born team leader and Assistant Teacher, as well as being a multiple World Qualifier. She is an Open Championship dancer, and at the past three North American Championships she placed 7th (2012), 5th (2013) and 4th (2014). At the World Championships Mackenzie placed 32nd in 2014 and 28th in 2013. She has also been a top placer and World Qualifier for seven consecutive years at the Western Canadian Oireachtas, including as a U-11 Prizewinner dancer! She placed 5th (2007), 6th (2008), 4th (2009), 6th (2010), 3rd (2011), 4th (2012) and 2nd (2013).

Mackenzie's dedication to dance and her exemplary leadership skills as an Eire Born team captain and NPIDA Assistant Teacher have been recognized with multiple awards, including the NPIDA and EBIDS Garlene Pickett Awards (2009-2014 consecutively) and the Pat and Vic Eire Born Team Leadership Award (2013).

Mackenzie has graduated from Windsor Secondary School in North Vancouver. She and a few other students volunteered to set up an initiative at Windsor for mental health, creating a poster filled with positive notes, resources to get help and visual examples of what mental health can look like. She also attended the youth mental health conference "Talk at the Top" as a representative for Windsor. Mackenzie was also involved in the Interact club, Best Buddies program (forming friendships with special needs students), and Student Council.

Mackenzie has been accepted into the Human Kinetics program at Capilano University and has opted to defer her acceptance. She plans to attend Blanche MacDonald Centre in the fall of 2014 to take Freelance Makeup Artistry, and attend Capilano University the following year.

This summer Mackenzie is continuing to teach at NPIDA camps and workshops. She plans to continue teaching, dancing and competing with NPIDA this upcoming year. Congratulations Mackenzie!

 

Emma and her soccer teammates and coaches at grad

Emma and her dad Greg

Emma before her grad banquet
with Mackenzie and Camryn

Emma

 

EMMA

Emma has been dancing at NPIDA for many years and is a longtime Eire Born team leader and Assistant Teacher. She is an Open Championship dancer and was a 3-time recaller at the Western Canadian Oireachtas: 15th (2008), 18th (2011) and 16th (2013). She has represented NPIDA at several North American Championships and also competed at the 2013 World Championships in Boston as a member of NPIDA's senior 8-Hand team.

Emma's dedication to dance and her exemplary leadership skills as an Eire Born team captain and NPIDA Assistant Teacher have been recognized with multiple awards, including the Pat McAndless Award of Excellence (2013 and 2014), the NPIDA and EBIDS Garlene Pickett Awards (2009, 2012 and 2013), and the Pat and Vic Eire Born Team Leadership Award (2011).

Emma has graduated from Seycove Secondary School in North Vancouver. She was a member of the Seycove Grad Council, Student Council and the Seycove Ultimate Frisbee team. She also volunteered at Distrikt Movement in North Vancouver. At her convocation Emma was the recipient of several scholarships:

- Simon Fraser University Academic Entrance Scholarship
- York University Major Entrance Scholarship
- Vancouver Elementary Principal's and Vic Principal's Association Scholarship
- Canadian Federation of University Women's Scholarship
- Seycove Parent Advisory Council Scholarship

Emma has decided to attend Simon Fraser University this fall in the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty. She will be living in residence and hopes to join the intramural Ultimate Frisbee and softball teams. While at SFU she plans to travel abroad and hopes to join a co-op program. In the long term she is interested in International Studies, Economics and History.

This summer Emma is volunteering as a receptionist at Distrikt Movement. She is not certain presently what her plans are for dance next year; it will depend on the NPIDA class schedule and her SFU class schedule. Congratulations Emma!

Catalina and her family Claudia, Bill and Christopher at her grad

Catalina

Catalina with her new car -
a graduation gift from her grandparents

Catalina

CATALINA
Catalina has been dancing at NPIDA for many years and is a longtime Eire Born team leader and Assistant Teacher. She is an Open Championship dancer and was a 6-time recaller at the Western Canadian Oireachtas: 9th (2006), 7th (2007), 18th (2010), 13th (2011), 12th (2012) and 6th (2013). She was thrilled to be a World Qualifier at the 2013 Oireachtas, and attended the World Championships in London in April 2014. As well, she competed at the 2013 World Championships in Boston as a member of NPIDA's senior 8-Hand team. Catalina has also represented NPIDA at several North American Championships.

Catalina's dedication to dance and her exemplary leadership skills as an Eire Born team captain and NPIDA Assistant Teacher have been recognized with multiple awards, including the EBIDS Garlene Pickett Award (2009), the Pat and Vic Eire Born Team Leadership Award (2012), and NPIDA's Most Improved Work Ethic Award in 2014.

Catalina has graduated from Steveston-London Secondary School in Richmond. She was a volunteer in many capacities during her highschool years, including Student Council (Grades 8-12) and Remembrance Day Volunteer and Emcee. Catalina was also a member of the Drama Club in Grades 10-12 and took part in many plays, including several lead roles. She was a member of the basketball team in Grades 8-10 and the Ultimate Frisbee Team in Grade 12.

In Grades 10-12 Catalina volunteered as a Grade 7 Fun Day Leader, helping to organize events for incoming Grade 7 students and giving them an opportunity to meet their fellow high school classmates through games and activities, school tours, meeting teachers and talking to them about life in high school and how to get involved.

In Grade 11 she was a Grade 8 Camp Leader, helping to organize a 3-day camp retreat for Grade 8 students and leading camp events and activities. In Grade 12 she was one of three Grade 8 Camp administrators, overseeing leadership for the whole camp, organizing all camp events, activities, cabin assignments, dealing with medical information and allergies, overseeing the student leaders, and running all the planning meetings prior to the camp. In total this was 300 hours of volunteer time.

At her convocation Catalina was the recipient of several awards and scholarships:

- Steveston-London Major Service Award (outstanding service to the school)

- Etta Demerse Scholarship (for a student attending post secondary in Vancouver)

- Kronier Family Scholarship (outstanding involvement in the community)

- Richmond Sunset Rotary Art Scholarship (outstanding involvement in visual or performing arts)

- Richmond Chinese Community Scholarship: Michael Diston Memorial (outstanding involvement with fine arts)

Catalina will be attending Langara College in fall 2014 and taking General Arts for two years. She plans to then transfer to UBC to complete a degree as an Elementary School Teacher in order to continue her passion for working with children. This summer she is working at Brown's Social House Restaurant in Richmond. ("Feel free to stop by and say hi"). In mid-August she will be travelling to Waterloo Ontario to compete in the Canadian National Ultimate Championships.

 

Catalina has not yet decided whether she will continue dancing competitively next year, but she plans to stay involved with NPIDA through teaching, dancing in shows and taking dance classes for fun. She says "I am so lucky to be part of such an incredible dance school, and I just want to say thank you to my teachers, the dancers and all the dance moms who have supported me all these years!". Congratulations Catalina!

 

Congratulations Mackenzie, Emma and Catalina!

We are so proud of you!

Congratulations to Hanna: UBC Grad!

Hanna on Convocation Day - May 22/14

Hanna and Michael tossing their grad caps

Congratulations to NPIDA's 2014 university grads, Kali M (Kwantlen), Michael Y (UBC) and Hanna S (UBC)! These are three of NPIDA's most senior dancers, with Kali and Michael retiring in recent years and Hanna still actively dancing. Please see the two posts directly below for posts about Kali (June 2) and Michael (June 3). Today we congratulate Hanna.

HANNA
Hanna is the last remaining original NPIDA dancer, having started with Nora at age six in 1998. She advanced quickly to Prelim Championships and after several years of determined effort moved to Open Championships at age 15. Hanna was one of the original members of Eire Born and served as a team captain for many years. She was also an Assistant Teacher at NPIDA Richmond for four years. She was thrilled to compete at the 2013 World Championships in Boston with NPIDA's age 19+ 8-Hand team. Last month Hanna retired from 16 years of competition, placing 4th at her final feis.

At age 10 Hanna was the youngest of five NPIDA dancers selected to travel to Switzerland for two weeks to perform at EXPO 2002 along with Kali, Natalie, Kelly and Coco. She also performed and taught in New York in 2007 and 2009 with a small group of NPIDA dancers at charity events organized by Coco. Like Kali, Hanna has many fond memories of performing with fiddler Natalie MacMaster on numerous occasions throughout BC, Alberta, Washington and Oregon; most recently in April 2013.

Hanna graduated from UBC on May 22 with a Bachelor of Arts, with a double-major in History and Classical Archaeology.

School Involvement, Volunteer Service and Internships
Hanna volunteered weekly for four years at UBC’s Crane Library Production Unit, recording narrations of textbooks for visually impaired students. She was also employed for four years by UBC as a notetaker for students with disabilities, and worked at the circulation desk of Koerner Library in 2012-2014.

Last year Hanna became involved in UBC’s Arts Internship program. She interned with the Richmond Museum in Spring 2013, and then returned as a volunteer during this school year, contributing 400+ hours of service to the museum. She also served as a UBC Arts Internship Ambassador in 2013-2014, promoting the program and interviewing students for subsequent intakes. In April 2012 Hanna was one of ten Vimy Prize alumni (a national history scholarship she received in 2008) sponsored to volunteer for a week in France with Veterans Affairs Canada, assisting with events for the 95th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge.

This year Hanna began a volunteer research internship with a UBC History professor, which also resulted in concurrent employment as a research assistant by a second History professor. Her paper ‘Mourning, Memory, and Material Culture: Colonial Commemoration of the Missing on the Great War’s Western Front’ was recently selected for publication in Atlas, UBC’s Undergraduate History Journal. She presented this paper at two UBC undergraduate conferences in Spring 2014, and recently was thrilled to be accepted to present her paper at an international WWI conference in Lake Louise in September 2014.

Study Abroad Experience
In 2011 Hanna studied in Britain at the Bader International Study Centre, Herstmonceux Castle (the UK campus of Queens University). In Summer 2012 she returned to Herstmonceux for an Archaeology Field School. This led to an offer of a summer internship position in 2013, acting as Archaeology Field School Assistant, Archival Intern, Assistant Organizer of the Canada Abroad conference, and Academic Travel Intern, during which she co-led students on trips to visit international organizations in Geneva and The Hague.

Awards and Scholarships
* Master's Scholarship for International Students, University of Leicester (2014)
* First Prize Winner, Pat McAndless Award for Excellence (2014 and 2013)
* UBC Golden Key International Honour Society New Inductee Scholarship (2011)
* UBC Trek Excellence Scholarship for Returning Students (2010)
* IDTANA (Irish Dance Teachers Association of North America) Scholarship (2010)
* UBC Major Entrance Scholarship (2009)
* UBC President’s Entrance Scholarship (2009)

Future Plans
Hanna received four admission offers for Masters programs in England, including from the University of Oxford. She has accepted the offer from the University of Leicester to pursue her Masters in Museum Studies beginning in September 2014. This summer she is working full-time as a Collections Technician at the Richmond Museum, and part-time as a research assistant for two UBC History professors.

Congratulations Hanna!

Left: Hanna and Nora (age 7-1999)
Middle: Writing dock show plans with Kali (2007)
Right: At the Steveston docks (2004)

Hanna - with Nora in 2011 (left) and Kali in 2003 (top right)

Hanna and Kali with Natalie MacMaster in Oregon (2003)