Golden Hills students receive prestigious Honouring Spirit Award
By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Two students from Golden Hills School Division have been awarded the Alberta School Board Association’s (ASBA) Honouring Spirit Award for 2025.
This award recognized 12 students from across Alberta this year, out of over 300 who were nominated.
Caleb Sitting Eagle and Trinity Pretty Youngwoman were selected as the Southern Alberta Grade 7-9 and Grade 10-12 winners, respectively.
The Honouring Spirit: Indigenous Student Award recognizes First Nations, Metis, and Inuit students who model strength and commitment in pursuit of their personal education, and who embrace their own gifts and potential while celebrating the ways of their people.
Criteria which is examined by a committee to determine the award winners includes perseverance and the pursuit of goals, dreams, school and beyond, healthy attitude in the pursuit of a personal path to educational fulfillment, embracing culture, promoting the strengths and beauty of their culture and the value to their community, modeling leadership through a cultural lens, respecting and honouring the autonomy, empowerment and agency of others, work ethic, attitude with others, honesty and honour.
A ceremony recognizing each of the award recipients was held at the Queen Elizabeth II building in Edmonton, April 14, at which the students were presented with their awards: individually unique handmade star blankets, and scholarships provided by Keyera.
“The ceremony started off with a speech by the Lieutenant Governor, speaking on behalf of the King as His representative in Alberta, and then greetings on behalf of the government from the Minister, and then the presentation, and of course the President of the ASBA brings greetings as well,” said Rob Pirie, a school board trustee for Golden Hills School Division representing Strathmore. “Each student is offered the option of speaking to the audiences there and some choose to. Trinity did; she is a very articulate young woman.”
The $2,500 scholarship awarded to students by Keyera is for the purposes of furthering their post-secondary education, whenever they are able to make use of it. Students are able to apply the scholarship to whichever program they so choose following their graduation from high school.
“I think that students were very impressed with the honour of the award itself and the ceremony was sort of the icing on the cake. They were reminded throughout the presentation by the Lieutenant Governor, by the Minister, by everyone what a prestigious award this was and how amazing it was what they have done already in their young lives,” said Pirie.
Caleb is described by Golden Hills School Division as a student who proudly promotes his culture and advocates for Indigenous students. As a passionate advocate for traditional hand games, Caleb organized a school wide tournament. Caleb is an active member in the school’s Niitsitapi club and is currently serving as the leader of Crowther Memorial’s Student Chief and Council.
Trinity, a student at Strathmore High School, was described to exemplify the spirit of perseverance, leadership and cultural pride. She has been awarded a scholarship to Vancouver Film School where she will pursue a career in film and storytelling. Trinity also participates in the Blackfoot Youth Confederacy and works with the Calgary Flames on initiatives to revitalize Indigenous language.