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Algoma District School Board Student Trustees for 2021 / 2022 School Year Appointed

The Algoma District School Board (ADSB) approved the appointment of three Student Trustees for the 2021/2022 school year: Annika Morrison from Michipicoten High School in Wawa, Shail Giroux from Korah Collegiate and Manook Wilson from Elliot Lake Secondary School as Indigenous Student Trustee, for the Algoma District School Board, effective August 1, 2021.

Annika Morrison is currently a Grade 11 student at Michipicoten High School (MHS). She is a dedicated student and has been the recipient of many school-based awards. Annika has become a strong advocate at the school, for herself and others. Since grade 9, she has been an integral member of the MHS Spirit Council and has helped organize game days, spirit weeks, school contests, food drives, and fundraising events. Annika has taken part in Student Senate events including the Senate Gala, ADSB Student Voice forum, and Bon Soo Olympics. She has demonstrated her leadership skills as a Summer Camp leader and as a dance assistant in her community. She is also a school athlete, taking part in running, basketball, volleyball and soccer, often encouraging others to think about joining sports teams. She is recognized as a dependable and hard-working team member. She strives to improve herself and her team and participates fully in training on and off the court/field, always there with a positive word for her teammates.

Annika is looking forward to bringing her insight as a student from a smaller community to both the Board and Student Senate table. She hopes to focus on improving student involvement, comradery and student mental health in her role as Student Trustee and to share some of the unique challenges smaller, northern schools face.

Shail Giroux is currently a Grade 11 student at Korah Collegiate. He is enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme and has earned several academic accolades, while also participating in a number of activities within the school and the community of Sault Ste. Marie. Shail has been a member of Vex Robotics for several years and has been an active participant at Science Fairs. In both forums, Shail has competed at the school, regional, provincial, national, and international levels. He and his robotics partner were the 2019 Provincial VEX VRC Robotics Champions and went on to place 16th at the World Championships that year. Shail volunteers annually as a referee/judge at local robotics competitions and coaches an elementary school robotics team. He is an avid cross-country skier competing and coaching for the Soo Finnish Nordic Club. Shail has made a big impact in a short time as part of Korah’s Student Senate. He actively recruits students and shares information about Senate especially with intermediate students. He has secured a motivational speaker to bring the message of “everyone has the right to feel good about themselves” to his school community.

Through his travels, Shail has had the opportunity to learn about different organizations including DECA Ontario and Youth of Canada, both of which provide students with online mentors, resources and activities which help students determine areas of academic and personal interest. Shail looks forward to introducing these kinds of resources to ADSB students and to be able to promote new and diverse opportunities in his role as Student Trustee.

Manook Wilson is currently a Grade 11 student at Elliot Lake Secondary School. Manook has served as Vice Chair of the ADSB Northern Indigenous Youth Council (NIYC) for the 20/21 school year and will be the ADSB Indigenous Student Trustee and NIYC Chair for the 21/22 school year. Manook is an Anishinaabe Ojibwe woman and is from Serpent River First Nation. She believes that collaboration with Indigenous students from other schools will help build confidence for Indigenous students within ADSB schools. She also strongly believes that introducing non-Indigenous students to activities which promote cultural awareness will help build better understanding of Indigenous people. Manook has experience in youth leadership having been chosen as Junior Miss Genaabaajing and becoming a Youth Ambassador representing the youth of Serpent River First Nation. She has attended Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women events throughout Northern Ontario. She has volunteered as a Pow Wow committee member and as a counselor at a Serpent River First Nation day camp.

In her role as Chair of the Northern Indigenous Youth Council Manook looks forward to advocating for cultural awareness, normalizing different cultures and addressing racial imbalances in our schools “…to make schools feel like a welcoming environment for everyone.”

Current Student Trustees Emily Hewgill, Evan Tyler and Indigenous Student Trustee
Amara Ruffo will complete their terms on July 31, 2021.

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