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President
Hi! My name is Isabelle and I am the president of your 2024/2025 HCOS Student Council. I’m 16 years old, I'm in grade 11, and this is my fourth year of homeschooling with HCOS. I have lived in many places in BC (and in the States) but currently, I live in Princeton BC. I have 4 brothers, 1 sister, and 2 dogs. I have a multitude of hobbies including, baking, dancing, singing, acting, reading, biking, swimming, planning Sunday School in my church, and much more. My favourite subjects in school are biology, chemistry and math, and I’m considering working as a medical professional one day. I am also obsessed with animals (particularly dogs), Disney, and travel. I was a part of the first student council last year and I am very excited to continue to inspire change and connection in our school.
If you have any questions or ideas that you would like to be seen by the student council or just want to connect with me, my email address is linked to my name above. I look forward to helping to make this year amazing.
Vice President
Hello! My name is Kasian, some of you may know me as your Grade 11 Representative from last year.
I’m the eldest of five children in my family and we live on Denman Island with our mother, two dogs, and eleven chickens. Beyond Student Council I enjoy almost anything mechanical, especially bikes, of which I have around ten, as well as most other active pastimes. I have tried, such as soccer, table tennis, and pickle ball. I also enjoy sitting and reading a good book for both enjoyment and knowledge. In my community I have taken on several important volunteer positions, and even run my own small business. After several years working in the organization I am now the co-chair of the Denman Island Trails committee where we maintain and add on to the extensive network of trails here, I am also a junior on our local fire department, and have been building my qualifications there for the past year. For work I run a small business repairing bikes on Denman, which is something I have over a decade of experience in, as well as working for Beech and Cedar Home Maintenance a couple of days a week.
One of my firm beliefs from all of the organizations I have been a part of is that the people who make it up are the most important part. I can’t wait to bring my experience to Student Council and help advance our school community this year.
Secretary
Winslet Spark
Hello! My name is Winslet Spark and I’m a grade 12 homeschooler.
I was born in Kamloops but now live on a hobby farm north of Kamloops. I am 3rd out of 6 siblings, and together we were homeschooled from K-12. Growing up I was involved in quite a few extracurricular activities, some of these being piano lessons and Cross Country running. God teaches us everything in life worth doing takes patience and dedication. Taking part in these extracurriculars have continually challenged me, making persevering very rewarding.
I did find, however, being homeschooled gave me fewer opportunities to gain leadership and management skills. This is one of the reasons I decided to join this course. I hope this course will teach me to lead in the way the Bible teaches, with humility, justice, and honesty through Him. I can’t wait to get to know my fellow classmates and experience leadership and teamwork together. I’m honoured to be a part of this course, and I hope my experiences and views will bring something to the table.
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of
others.” Philippians 2:3-4
Treasurer
VACANT
Social Media Manager
Hello, my name is Lara Gabriel. I’m 17 years old and I am one of HCOS’s graduates this year. I am the Social Media Manager at Student Council! This is my 4th year being at HCOS and I love it. I’m an international HCOS student as I live in Dubai but that will be changing pretty soon. I have a dog named Teddy and I enjoy spending time with him. His presence makes my day so much better with how loving he is. I love being outdoors and being around nature, baking, creating designs for others on social media, spending time with friends and meeting new people (even though I’m a bit of an introvert when it comes to that part). I love listening to music and to soon be creating my own. I enjoy creating videos about games or being outdoors and making videos for others.
Joining Student Council is so amazing because you get to speak your opinions and have your opinions heard while making new friends. I'm so honored to be a part of this year's Student Council as the Social Media Manager and continuing the positive community we have.
Indigenous Representative
Hi! My name is Emily, I am 18 years old. I’m your student council Indigenous representative. I've been a student here at HCOS for the last 4 years. I’m from 100 Mile House in the B.C interior where I live with my parents, my 5 siblings and my dog. I have always loved getting to work with other students at HCOS and I will take any opportunity to chat with people. When I’m not doing school or working in children's ministry I have a rather odd collection of hobbies, including beadwork, crochet, writing and backpacking. My favorite subject is history and I am planning to pursue a career in nursing next year. I am very excited to get to represent my heritage and culture on the HCOS student council this year and getting to show the beauty and creativity of our indigenous student body here at our school.
Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns or just want to know more about indigenous culture or if you just want to chat. You can find my email by clicking my name above.
Grade 10 Representative
Hi! I'm Amber Bisschop and I’m 15 years old. I’m one of your grade 10 representatives for this year’s Student Council! This is my 8th year with HCOS. I live in the Fraser Valley on a Christmas tree farm with my family; 3 younger sisters, my mom+dad (and a baby sibling May 2025 DV!!), and too many chickens to count. Some of my hobbies include baking, reading, listening to music, target practicing (with both guns and bows), and quadding. I can’t wait to help make the dreams of Student Council happen! :)
Grade 10 Representative
Hi! My name is Sara Rutsatz. I live in Kamloops B.C. and I have been homeschooled through HCOS my whole life. I am 15 years old, a theater actress, and I love performing. Some of my other hobbies are reading, art, graphic design, skating, singing, and playing my harp. I am involved in my church at both senior and junior youth, nursery helper and youth band. I love all of it. I love people and I love being involved. I am so excited to be a part of the student council this year. I get to be a part of an amazing team and I can’t wait to see what the student council can do.
Grade 11 Representative
Hi, my name is Katelyn Vanderveen and I am 16 years old, I am one of the grade 11 reps this year. When I’m not doing school work or practicing for theater, I enjoy spending time with friends, doing jigsaw puzzles, reading, and baking. I am super excited to be working with my fellow student council members to make this a great year for our school, and I am looking forward to representing the grade 11s in the decisions we make as a council.
Grade 11 Representative
Winter Nedelec
Hello! My name is Winter Nedelec. I am 17 years old, and I live on Vancouver island. I don't exactly live on a farm. . .but I've done all I can to make the quarter acre I do live on seem like one! I care for six chickens, two cats, and a garden.
I am a very competitive person. In most of the kids programs I've participated in, competition was discouraged. . . so now I seek it out. I climb competitively in as many bouldering competitions as possible, I show my chickens in the farm fairs, and (weirdest of all) compete at the occasional pinball tournament.
Beyond that, I also read lots, go fishing, play Dungeons & Dragons each week, go for hikes, and listen to Queen (rock music). My favorite subject is math.
Grade 12 Representative
Gabe Vance
Hi! My name is Gabe and I live on Vancouver Island with my mom, dad, five siblings and my dog, Midnight. I lived in Kelowna for most of my life; I moved to the island just over three years ago. I am very outgoing and love going on adventures such as random hikes on the island or cliff jumping with my cousin. I like riding my bike and rock climbing whenever I can. I enjoy cooking and baking for friends and family and love seeing their happy faces after tasting my food. One day I would love to travel and explore. I have been a part of HCOS for ten years and love the amount of flexibility I have. Having many friends who were a part of the student council last year made me interested in doing it this year. One of the reasons I wanted to join the student council was to be more a part of the HCOS community and to see how I could make a difference.
Grade 12 Representative
My name is Dakota Peters, however most people just call me Cody, it’s your choice. I live in Penticton and have lived here my entire life. I enjoy many different things like movies, the outdoors and general nerdy things. My current favorite movie is Back to the Future, 1 through 3. I love being far away from civilization and enjoy camping/hiking. I’m a big fan of old cars, comic books, things like Transformers and Marvel figurines. I am part of the Champion Taekwondo club here in Penticton and currently working towards my yellow belt. Why I joined the student council was A) for credits, but more importantly, B) to be able to communicate with my peers and to be able to participate in creating good things for the students of HCOS. I’m always open to communicating with not only the Grade 12’s that I represent, but any student that has a question, idea or problem.
General Member
Georgia Murray
My name is Georgia, I'm 14 going on 15 in December. I enjoy listening to music, sewing, baking and reading. I love Homeschooling, I've never gone to public school, and intend to keep it that way. I joined the Student Council because I wanted to know what was going on in my school and help plan school events. I'm not a social butterfly but I love meeting new people and making new friends.
General Member
Kemi Mahil
My name is Kemi, and I am 14 years old, soon to be 15! I have a diverse range of interests, including listening to music, watching movies, skateboarding, practicing karate and basketball, attending comic cons, studying the Bible, collecting action figures, reading comic books, writing poetry, and making new friends. I have been homeschooled since the third grade and have really enjoyed attending this school so far.
A fun fact about me is that I skipped first grade and have consistently been one grade ahead. I am obsessed with the Percy Jackson books and the show Stranger Things. I also have a hobby of collecting vinyl records and Funko Pops. Recently, I received my yellow belt in karate and won first place at a tournament earlier this year.
I joined the student council to connect with other students and enhance my leadership skills. I find this course to be very enjoyable so far and would definitely recommend it to others!
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