We’ve just passed the midterm point of the semester and students can take a breath. With the holiday season coming up fast, now is a good time to reflect on the semester so far and look ahead to the end of the year. In this newsletter, we will highlight OVS scholarship winners, our efforts in community outreach, reminders for OUAC deadlines, and more!
Scholarship Winners
The Summer McIntosh Award for Excellence in Athletics
Winner - Alara Ataman
Alara is an International Water Polo player having competed with the Turkiye National Team in both the 2023 Water Polo European Championships and the 2024 Water Polo World Championships.
Alara is currently attending Marist University, Florence Campus for Communication and Global Marketing
This scholarship from OVS would be a huge help for my university studies. My parents have always supported me and covered all my expenses as an athlete, and I’m truly grateful for that. Now that I’m starting university, I want to ease their financial burden and take some of the pressure off. This support would allow me to give back to them and focus fully on my education and goals.
The Anna Turkington Award for Excellence in Arts
Winner – Alexandra Toupikov
Alexandra is a deep lover of the arts, both in music and performing arts. She founded the Kingston Performing Arts Camp in Jamaica, which is a musical theatre camp for children aged 7 to 11. You can find more information on their Instagram page.
Alexandra is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music Honours in Music Education at Western University.
I’ve been teaching music and drama for the last two years in my life, and I feel a degree in music education is the natural progression. A music education degree teaches me to conduct and play all types of instruments (woodwinds, brass, string etc) while also enforcing pedagogy and strategies for ensemble learning. The conducting is particularly important as it is only available in the music education stream, and I hope to conduct professionally one day.
The Borzou Salavati Award for Excellence in Engineering
Winner – Sunnya Ali
Sunnya has always been drawn to problem-solving and innovation, which is what led to her interest in Engineering. She achieved incredibly high marks in all of her science and math related courses both with OVS at her day school.
Sunnya is currently pursuing a degree in Engineering at Western University.
After completing my engineering degree, I plan to work as a mechanical engineer to come up with sustainable solutions by designing eco-friendly infrastructure that improve lives. I hope to contribute to projects that support under-resourced communities, using my skills to create lasting impact while continuing to learn and grow in the field to help give a better quality of life to those in need.
The Farhez Lakhani Award for Excellence in Business
Winner – Reese Yip
Reese was part of the SHSM (Specialist High Skills Major) Council in 2023 at his day school, helping people develop their areas of interest and assisted in designing programs that allow people to work to their potential. He also worked part time at an HR consulting practice throughout high school.
Reese is currently attending Brock University for a Bachelor of Business Administration Co-op, with a specialty in HR and a minor in Labour Studies.
After completing my degree, I would like to join an organization, perhaps in a unionized environment, to continue to build my skill set in labour relations and gain practical experience working with unions and working with employees. My long-term goal is to run my own HR consulting firm, specializing in labour relations and learning and development. My hope is to work with organizations to ensure they have HR-infrastructure built to support their size, challenges, and employee-base.
The Vinay Aggarwal Award for Excellence in Science
Winner – Angelene Wilson
Angelene has always had a passion for science. She maintained a 93 average through all four years of high school and achieving high marks in all of her science subjects.
Angelene is current enrolled in Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences at McMaster University
Currently, I plan to pursue medical school at a Canadian University after I graduate with my Bachelor of Science. My ultimate goal is to become a Dermatologist and give back to my community through healthcare, as it has shaped me to be the person I am today. Although I always had an interest in healthcare, I realized my passion was tied to skincare during Covid, as I found myself doing research on different routines, the best ingredients, and was immensely interested in learning more.
OUAC Reminder
As a reminder, while OVS is an asynchronous school, for Grade 12 students, you need to be meeting your deadlines for your university applications. These deadlines are non-negotiable and anything submitted after the deadline is not guaranteed to make it to OUAC in time for acceptances.
Collection Period 1: In Progress and Midterm Grades First Semester
- OVS Deadline for Submitting Work – November 13th 2025
- OUAC Deadline for Submission – November 20th 2025
Collection Period 2: In Progress and Final Grades First Semester
- OVS Deadline for Submitting Work – February 5th 2026
- OUAC Deadline for Submission – February 12th 2026
Collection Period 3: In Progress and Midterm Grades Second Semester
- OVS Deadline for Submitting Work – April 17th 2026
- OUAC Deadline for Submission – April 24th
Collection Period 4: Final Grade for all Courses
- OVS Group 1 Deadline for Submitting Work – June 5th 2026
- OVS Group 2 Deadline for Submitting Work – June 26th 2026
- OUAC Deadline for Submission – July 7th 2026
Diwali Celebration
As part of our community outreach efforts, this past October, OVS was a proud sponsor of the Diwali Mela Presented by City of Brampton at Sesquicentennial Park, Brampton ON
The City of Brampton invites residents to take part in the third annual Diwali Mela, a free family-friendly celebration of the Festival of Lights. This year’s event showcased live performances by local and international artists, food vendors, a new drone show and a fireworks display.
For more information on the celebration, as well as further events in Brampton, please check out the website.
Teacher Spotlight: Ms. Miller | English and Biology Teacher
Michelle Miller is currently teaching English and Biology with OVS. She has been with OVS for over a year, but has been teaching since 2020. She completed a double-major in biology and indigenous studies at Trent University before completing her Bachelors of Education at the same school.
We asked Ms. Miller to answer a few questions so that her students would be able to get to know her just a little better.
Holiday Giveaway!!
For a limited time OVS is offering a chance to win a free OVS course or an iPad.
All you need to do is post a video on Instagram about how OVS has helped you reach your academic goals and tag OVS, plus like and follow us. You can use this QR code or click the link to go to the OVS Instagram page.
The deadline to enter this giveaway is until December 31st. After which a winner will be randomly selected by our team.
