Tellier Takes Home Hardware from Notre Dame Awards

Stephanie Tellier (second from right) poses with a volleyball beside fellow recipients of the OSUM Leaders of Tomorrow earlier this month.

Like all Grade 12 students in June, Stephanie Tellier anxiously awaited the end of diploma exams. Now, she’s all done high school.

“It feels great. I just had my last exam yesterday afternoon, so that feeling walking out of the school was definitely a little bittersweet,” said Tellier. “But after all those years of hard work it’s finally over so it’s time for the next step.”

The recent grad racked up several accolades at Ecole Notre Dame’s award ceremony last Wednesday. She put herself on the honour roll, finished top in the class in a couple subjects, earned awards in athletics for handball, volleyball, and basketball, and multiple scholarships and bursaries sponsored by community members as well.

All in all –  not too bad.

One of the most important distinctions for Tellier was receiving the OSUM Leader of Tomorrow Award. The $1000 bursary recognizes six Grade 12 students in the Lakeland who show leadership by bringing positive change to their school or community.

Unlike other grants or bursaries, students need to be nominated to receive the award. Tellier’s career counsellor at Notre Dame, Mrs. Rainey, put Stephanie’s name forward, making the honour extra special.

“Any of the ones that I got nominated for really stood out to me because when you’re applying for scholarships you can really talk yourself up, and they can make you seem like you’re the best at everything.

“But when you get nominated I really feel that’s such an honour because it means someone is noticing the hard work you’re putting in and they’re trying to be involved in that. I try to put a lot of hard work into whatever I’m doing.”

Tellier’s favourite school sport growing up was volleyball. In her last season of high-school competition, Notre Dame got oh so close to a gold medal at the zones championships, settling for silver after losing to Vegreville Composite High School.

“We were so close to making provincials. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the outcome that we wanted. But just the chemistry on the team, we were such a close team this year, and I’ve been playing with a lot of those girls since Grade 5 or 6. So to be so close and almost reach our goals was a good feeling for sure.”

If nothing else, Tellier is involved in the community. That range of experience is setting her up for the future.

“I think being a part of so many different groups, it does teach you a lot of leadership. I’m the President of the 4H Beef Club, and the co-president at Student’s Union, so I just got a lot of experience through those things, then I can use them in my future endeavours. Whatever they may be.”

In the fall, Tellier is going to school at Concordia University in Edmonton for a degree in education.