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Balfour Collegiate

My name is Benjamin Taypotat. I am currently in my senior year at Balfour Collegiate and am proud to say Balfour has given me some of the best years of my life. Balfour has always had a welcoming and encouraging environment that has helped me achieve the best I could in my studies and athletics. It has allowed me to develop strong relationships with friends and teachers, for which I am grateful.
For the past four years, I’ve been able to represent Balfour on a variety of its sports teams such as soccer, basketball, football, and ultimate Frisbee. Being on these teams not only kept me in shape but also developed skills that can be applied on and off the court/field. As well as athletics, I have also had success in my studies. Personally, I’ve always loved math and the sciences as they explain how the world works, and I hope that my future includes these areas. Additionally, for the past three years, I have had one of the top three averages in my class and have achieved meritorious in all of my classes.
Outside of school, I enjoy playing soccer, skiing, travelling and hanging out with family and friends. I am a proud First Nations person and am heavily involved in community and cultural functions. As for my future, I plan on attending the University of Regina to pursue a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering degree. Thank you to everyone at Balfour for the amazing memories and experiences, and thank you to Erin and Andrea for showcasing students with your amazing photography!
Balfour Collegiate

My name is Noah Pelletier. I am a Grade 12 student at Balfour Collegiate. Over the past four years of high school, I have been involved in various activities within the school such as football, basketball, badminton, ultimate Frisbee, handball and more.
Football has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. I played Regina Minor Football up until my Grade 9 year when I started playing quarterback for the Balfour Bears. I also played for U16 Team Saskatchewan in 2017 and for the U18 Team Saskatchewan in 2018 and 2019 when we became back-to-back gold medal champions. I had the opportunity to play for Team Canada in 2018 and in 2020, which took me to Texas to play in the AT&T Stadium. This experience was a highlight in my football career. Being part of these elite teams has been an honour, and I will treasure these moments for the rest of my life.
I have received many academic and athletic awards while attending Balfour Collegiate, including honour roll, meritorious awards, Rookie of the Year, Offensive MVP, two-time team MVP, Senior Athlete of the Year and RHSAA Gerry Thompson Football Award.
As my high school football career comes to an end, I have been fortunate enough to be approached by the Regina Rams to join the team as a quarterback with their organization. While playing football with the Regina Rams, I will be attending the University of Regina where I plan to obtain a degree.
I would like to thank my family members who have supported me throughout the years and as well, I would like to thank all of my teachers and coaches for all of their hard work and dedication throughout my high school years. Without them, I wouldn’t be the person or athlete I am today. I would also like to thank the Twelfth Year organizers for this opportunity to showcase my talents and senior year.
Balfour Collegiate

My name is Erick Niyogushima. I am the firstborn in my family. I was born in Tanzania (west side of Africa) and moved to Canada in 2015 when I was 13 years old. Since arriving here, I’ve been glad to have found good friends, along with my family, who have helped to push me towards success.
Balfour has been a marvelous school from ninth grade to my senior year. Balfour offers extracurricular activities so all students can participate and get to know each other. I joined multiple sports in Grade 10, and one of my highlights was being a city champion in cross country. During that year, I also joined football, a sport that I continued playing into my senior year. My Grade 10 year was just full of surprises. I was announced as a Balfour Beacon and was nominated as athlete of the year. Extracurricular is very meaningful in my life. I am thankful to all of the admirable teachers who have helped me with my work in school so I can take part in activities at the end of the day.
After graduation, I look forward to going into post-secondary education for police studies at the University of Regina. I hope to someday see myself in a police officer uniform. Being a police officer is not my only career goal; I also think about how it would feel to become a pilot.
Life is like riding a bicycle…to keep your balance, you must keep moving. I’m grateful and thankful to be a Twelfth Year recipient!
Balfour Collegiate

My name is Jayda Duval. I was born in Saskatoon and moved to Regina when I was five years old. My ethnic background includes Jamaican and Ukrainian. I have a loving family who has always supported me throughout all of my life endeavours and this has had an enormous impact on my success. Without the ongoing support of my family, I would not be the intelligent and independent individual I am today.
Since I was young, sports has been a common theme in my family. With both of my parents playing sports at a professional level, it has inspired me to follow in their footsteps and strive to be the best athlete I can be. Throughout high school, I have participated in volleyball, basketball, badminton, flag football and the high school football team. I have received multiple awards in each year of being a part of those teams. I have received a lot of attention for being the first female player on my high school football team, which was such a humbling experience. I was named both junior and senior female athlete of the year and received awards in every sport.
Throughout my four years at Balfour, juggling sports and academics has left me overwhelmed at times, but my motivation to succeed has never allowed me to stop pushing to achieve academic excellence. Over the years, I have been on the honour roll and received meritorious awards. My schooling has and will always come before anything else in my life as I have set very high expectations and goals, which I will continue to strive to achieve.
I am enrolled at the University of Regina in the Faculty of Arts, and I am very interested in Justice Studies and Human Justice. I am currently undecided on what I want to do as a career but in the future, I would like to work for the government and be a leader within the community. I am honoured and thankful to be a Twelfth Year recipient and to be able to express who I am.