Saying goodbye to a great year: 2023-2024 Year-End Celebrations

Early in the morning on June 14, sounds of the choir and the Senior Jazz Band rehearsing filled the John Bassett Theatre at the Toronto Metropolitan Convention Centre. In about an hour’s time, the same choir would assemble on stage to perform "O Canada" and "What About Us" to kickstart a full day of celebrations to mark the end of the school year. 

In the morning, we had our Celebration Day, where we honoured the recipients of the Student Growth Award, the Roundtable Award, the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards as well as the Character Awards (Civic, Intellectual, Performance and Moral). Graduating students Owen Polley ‘24 and Chloe White ‘24 shared their Greenwood stories about how their time here helped shape their growth and connections. The outgoing Heads of Student Leadership, Evan Edgell ‘24 and Caleb Hibbert ‘24, presented their final address to the crowd and presented the Heads of Student Leadership ties to incoming Headship, Kylie Armstrong ‘25 and Charlie Waghmare ‘25. The Greenwood choir also performed "Lean on Me". Celebration Day concluded with a dramatic House reveal that Lynx won the Greenwood House Cup. 

In the afternoon, the graduating Class of 2024 donned their caps and gowns for their Graduation Ceremony. To start off the ceremony, Izzy McEvily ‘24 presented her personalized Land Acknowledgement followed by Ms. Bruce’s congratulatory address to the Class of 2024. Nathalie Borlase ‘24 presented a thank-you to Greenwood staff for helping to make so many of her and her peers’ Greenwood experiences memorable. During the ceremony, the Grad Affairs executives Carson Blackwell ‘24, Sienna Loh ‘24 and Leila Rabbat ‘24 announced the Class Gift to Amici Children’s Camp Charity. The charity provides financial assistance to children to give them opportunities to attend camp. The Graduation Ceremony concluded with Jackson Walker ‘24 delivering his valedictorian speech. 

Thank you to all who joined us for Celebration Day and the Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony. Details regarding how to view the event photos and video will be shared soon.

Recipients of the Student Growth Awards demonstrated tremendous growth academically and/or in school life. This year’s recipients of the Student Growth Awards are:

The recipient of the Civic Character Award contributed greatly to the common good and exemplified this pillar of character. This year’s recipient is Gabriel Sims ‘24.

Students who’ve achieved the Gold level for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards were recognized at Celebration Day. Kylie Armstrong ‘25, Carson Blackwell ‘24 and Emilio Melardi ‘24 were presented with their gold level pin.

The Roundtable is Greenwood’s parent/guardian association. Each year, we present this recognition award to our parent/guardian volunteers who made a significant impact to the Roundtable. This year, we recognized Jennifer Bell-Yantsulis, Madeleine Loewenberg and Tama Sirkis. 

This character award recognizes students who embody a passion for learning and possess open-mindedness and curiosity. This year’s recipients are:

This character award recognizes a student who shows resilience, diligence and initiative in the pursuit of a goal. This year’s recipient of this award is Andy Li ‘26.

This character award, also known as the John Latimer Award, was created by the first graduating class of Greenwood. This award celebrates the moral character of an individual in the graduating class. This year, we had two recipients of this award: Torin Lang ‘24 and Lilly Vescio ‘24.  

This award recognizes a student from the graduating class who demonstrates superior academic performance, original and creative thought, and exceptional achievement in a broad context. This year’s recipient is Judy (Hanyu) Zeng ‘24. 

This award is presented to a graduating student who achieved the highest academic average in both Grade 11 and 12 at their respective high school. This year’s recipient is Evan Edgell ‘24. 

This award is named after Greenwood’s first director of Outdoor Education, Rex Taylor and recognizes a Grade 12 student who shows exceptional leadership and contributed significantly to the Outdoor Education program. This year’s recipient is Carson Blackwell ‘24.