St. Thomas Aquinas High School

St. Thomas Aquinas honours Arts students

Posted on 06/15/2023

St. Thomas Aquinas student talent was on display last night as the school honoured the incredible work of their arts students at the annual Stellars Banquet and Awards. This was the first time the school hosted the banquet post-COVID. Overall, 39 awards were presented to students in Grades 9-12.

Grade 12 student Colby Wallace won the Entertainer Award and was honoured alongside Thomas Poulin for continuing on in music in his post-secondary education. Wallace spoke about the support he’s received over the years at St. Thomas Aquinas High School.

“I’d say for a small town, the teaching and opportunities that I’ve had to play in school events, especially live like at jam nights, has pushed me to be better in a way that not a lot of others schools in a small town like this have,” he said. “Also having the example of Mr. Ura and other students who are older and are still here playing and active in the music scene and act as mentors has helped me to get better. They want you to be the best you can no matter what level you want to go to. Maybe you just want to learn a few chords on the guitar and sing or you want music to be your career, any level you’ll have support and they’ll help you achieve that goal.”

Wallace is taking a gap year to travel and work before heading into Audio Engineering with a Minor in Music Production at Concordia University, while Poulin is heading off to Thunder Bay to study Double Bass.

In addition to Music, students were also recognized for their skill in the Culinary, Visual, Media & Design, Film and Native Arts. Grade 11 student Teagan Saunders won Senior Artistic Spirit Award for Visual Arts as well as Vocalist of the Year. She said the arts are something that drew her to TA.

“There’s lots of opportunities here, visual arts, culinary, music, drama all sorts of things. Since I started at TA I’ve gone right to the music and art because when I was little ([St. Thomas Aquinas] would always do the vocal shows and I would come watch. That’s the reason I came here,” she said.

Guest Speaker Chuck Copenace spoke to the audience about his journey to becoming a professional trumpet player. Born in Treaty 3 Territory and hailing from the Ojibway Animikee Wazhing #37 community, Copenace took up the trumpet in Grade 7 and found a new passion. After a difficult journey with addictions he spoke about his path to releasing his new album Oshki Manitou, which means “New Spirit”. He will be performing at the Winnipeg Jazz Festuval on national Indigenous Peoples Day, Wednesday, June 21st.

The final award winner of the evening was Len Mark who was given the Renaissance Award which honours a community member who has made significant contributions to not only the arts department at St. Thomas Aquinas High School but the community as a whole. Mark has been a beloved community musician for years and serves as the president of the Lake of the Woods Concert Group and is the former president of the Kenora District Festival of the Arts.