Disappointment, says Teal Imbeau.
That's what the Howe Sound Secondary School Grade 11 student felt when she learned she had lost the battle to save the 2012 academic year-end awards.
Students and parents had banded together, willing to organize the event, but the teachers at Howe Sound refused to hand over the list of recipients - an action they said constituted a voluntary activity. Teachers across B.C. are currently supporting a collective action to withdraw extracurricular and voluntary services as a statement opposing the Ministry of Education's Bill 22.
Howe Sound Secondary was the only high school in the Sea to Sky Corridor to go without the awards. Whistler and Don Ross secondary schools' teachers provided names to students so the events went ahead.
The Howe Sound Secondary teachers stuck with their decision not to provide names, said Beth Miller, president Sea to Sky Teachers' Association. Pemberton Secondary School teachers also did not hand over a list of award recipients, she noted, but Pemberton students accessed marks from the British Columbia Enterprise Student Information System.
Most Howe Sound Secondary students support the teachers' job action, but felt the cancellation of the awards could have been avoided, Imbeau said. The action penalizes Howe Sound pupils, she told The Chief. They will be the only students in the area unable to add these awards to their college and university applications, Imbeau said.
"It is disappointing but we kind of knew it was going to be like this," she said.
