SYTYKM 2015 Winners

2015 Award Ceremony

The seventh annual SYTYKM Awards Ceremony was held at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The awards provide a platform for young talent to have their extraordinary work recognized and honored before a distinguished audience. In addition to the prizes listed above, there were bonus ones determined by random draw: the $500 Early Bird Prize went to Leah Galanis, a student at East York Collegiate Institute in Toronto, while John McCrae Secondary School in Ottawa became the 3+ School Random Draw Winner, receiving $2,000 toward the purchase of audiovisual equipment. Peter Tipold, a teacher at Jean Vanier Catholic High School in Collingwood, and a member of the Teachers' Academy, which selected the winner of the Teachers' Choice Award, won $1,000 for his school in a random draw held during the awards ceremony.

You can get a taste of the evening in a video recorded by Amethyst Images, which captures some of the many highlights.

Thank you!

We are exceedingly grateful to the dedicated members of the SYTYKM volunteer judging panel for the passion and integrity that they bring to evaluating the efforts of the contestants. The challenge this year was particularly daunting, as we received nearly 300 entries of unparalleled quality.  Thank you to Christina Blizzard, a veteran reporter and columnist for Sun Media; John Coulbourn, theatre, film and arts critic; James Cullingham, an award winning documentary filmmaker and the journalism program coordinator at Seneca College; Peter Fuchs, Director of Corporate Affairs at Glencore; Joanne Kearney, Vice President of  Smithcom, a communications agency specializing in corporate affairs and marketing communications; and Jane Werniuk, Senior Geologist, Technical Reporting at Agnico Eagle Mines and former editor of the Canadian Mining Journal. Without the judges' valuable time, professional objectivity and expertise, this competition would not be what it is.

A special word of thanks to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, whose address made the evening especially memorable.

As always, we were dazzled by the star power of the award ceremony presenters. Thank you to Christina Blizzard, columnist, Postmedia Network; Marc Boissonneault, Vice President, Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations, Glencore; David Church, Manager, Ojibway Mine, K+S Windsor Salt; Robert Closner, Regional General Counsel - The Americas, Boart Longyear; George Flumerfelt, President and CEO, J.S. Redpath, Ltd; Michael Gravelle, Ontario's Minister of Northern Development and Mines; Alanna Heath, Vice President, Government Affairs, Barrick Gold; Donna Kirkpatrick, Superintendent - Claims, Vale; Eric Kohtakangas, Vice President, Operations, Cementation; Peter Larsen, Vice President Environment, Health and Safety, Sandvik Mining; Tess Lofsky, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, North American Palladium Peter MacPhail, Chief Operating Officer, AuRico Gold; Melanie Martin, Senior Executive Assistant and Regional Communications Leader, Goldcorp; Adrian McFadden, Vice President, Underground Mining, KGHM International; Cory McPhee, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Vale; Duncan Middlemiss, President and Chief Executive, St Andrew Goldfields; Wayne Mohns, Vice President, Operations, Dumas Contracting;Tom Ormsby, Director, External and Corporate Affairs, De Beers Canada; Maria Orrico-Gamble, Program Chair of Technology, Blessed Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Grimsby; as well as the hosts of the evening: Marc Lauzier, Vice President, Operational Support, Canada & US, Goldcorp, and Chair of the Ontario Mining Association Board of Directors; and Chris Hodgson, Ontario Mining Association President. 

The irrepressible Wexford Gleeks made the evening musically exciting and a whole lotta fun. Thank you.

We appreciate the work of Alessandra Cardarelli of Carte Blanche Creations, who crafted unique coasters for SYTYKM Award Ceremony guests, using a design that showcases Ontario mining. 

We would also like to acknowledge the awesome staff at the Royal Ontario Museum, who helped us to organize a wonderful evening. 

Thank you to the competitors, teachers, parents and online voters - everyone who gave their time, showcased their talent and made the story of Ontario mining their own.

So You Think Know Mining is a success because of the collective financial and moral support of Ontario Mining Association members. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the companies listed in the video below.