Window of Distinction

Hunting Hills High School is seeking nominations for our

Window of Distinction

Our intent is to recognize previous HHHS students who have rendered prolonged and/or significant service to their chosen work and/or area of interest. We do not want any candidate to be overlooked.

Hunting Hills High School established the Window of Distinction in 2003 to recognize and honour previous HHHS students who have rendered prolonged and/or significant service to their chosen work and/or area of interest. The categories for recognition, not be viewed as all-inclusive, would include: scholastics, humanitarian efforts, community involvement, professional work, political involvement, athletics, fine arts.

The recipients of this Award are inducted during the Graduation Ceremony and their photos and achievements appear in our Window of Distinction display area in the school. We are proud and honoured to celebrate our inductees in our Window of Distinction.

In 2008, freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout traveled to Somalia to research a story on the millions of people affected by war, drought and famine. Kidnapped by teenage criminals, Lindhout spent 15 months enduring unimaginable hardships as a hostage in the world's poorest country. Following her release in November 2009, Lindhout quickly gained a name for herself as a humanitarian, working tirelessly as a passionate advocate for women's rights.

Only four months after her return to Canada, Lindhout founded the Global Enrichment Foundation (GEF), creating programs which provide opportunities for Somali women to reclaim their lives from the devastating effects of war.

The GEF launched The Somali Women's Scholarship Program in 2010 which is providing full university scholarships, within Somalia, to extraordinary Somali women who have a clear vision of the kind of change they are going to create in their communities. In 2011 the GEF is sponsoring the university education of 36 women who will go to become doctors, teachers, environmentalists, engineers and more.

This spring the GEF launched SHE WILL, a micro-loan initiative for female Somali refugees in Kenya, with a goal of creating economic empowerment for widows and other women severely affected by poverty.

The GEF sponsors Community Empowerment programs that bring educational workshops to communities across Somalia, focusing on conflict resolution and peace building as well as women's advocacy training.

In May of 2011 the GEF became the sponsor of one of Somalia's only female basketball teams, The Sankaroos; providing uniforms, balls, hoops, and other equipment- supporting female leadership through sport!

Lindhout has moved beyond the 460 days she spent in captivity to share the need for compassion, the triumph of personal transformation, and, most of all, the process of forgiveness.

Lindhout is passionate about creating awareness of the opportunities each individual has to create sustainable change in the world. Lindhout holds a Diploma in Development Leadership from the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.

For more information regarding Amanda's awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

For more information regarding Ashylyn's awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

Soonias is considered both Cree and Ojibwe. Along with his mother, he is registered at the Cape Croker First Nations reserve, whereas his father is Red Pheasant First Nation. He is a role model for Neechie Gear, a clothing brand that gives a 5% profit to give children the opportunity to participate in sports.

Through Indigenous communities, he connects to youth to relate to them in a positive light, both through the court and through storytelling. Volleyball on the Move Clinic is an example of this, where he worked through the program in various elementary schools in Whitehorse, Yukon in partnership with Volleyball Yukon.

Dallas has been an active member of our National Men's Volleyball Team and has played on numerous professional Volleyball squads across the world. Dallas has had experience assistant coaching at the University of Alberta for the men's volleyball team, where he played his University years.

He is an inspirational speaker for the indigenous community and beyond.

It is amazing to see what he has accomplished and how he gives back to his community both volleyball and indigenous, as he was a bit of a challenging student to have in your classroom, from what I have heard. He continues to further his education, from what I have heard, to this day.

For more information regarding Dallas' awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

For more information regarding Deidre's awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

The mere mention of Dion conjures up images of crushing body checks, blistering slap shots, end to end rushes and of course the infamous glare! Dion is a fierce competitor. Make no mistake on the ice, Dion is all about business. One thing for certain, Dion lives his life and plays hockey on the edge. His personal philosophy is epitomized in a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt at La Sorbonne, Paris in 1910 entit led “Citizens in a Republic”. He called all citizens to dare to live on the edge. One of the truths within the speech is entitled “The Man in the Arena” and it reflects Dion’s approach to life. The speech outlined the responsibilities of citizenship. It reads like this.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming.“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

You see Dion would rather risk everything to win it all and in the process have to experience the frustration of a loss, than play it safe and live in the middle; to live in the category of mediocrity and the average. He refuses to live in the grey twilight zone that never wins and never loses. Roosevelt ended his speech with the following charge.

“Therefore it behooves us to do our best to see that the standard of the average citizen is kept high; and the average cannot be kept high unless the standard of the leaders is very much higher”.

Dion has played for Team Canada on many occasions. His U17 and U18 teams captured Silver and Gold not unlike his World Junior experiences where a Silver and Gold were captured. The Top Prospect CHL Magazine selected Dion as the number one player in Canada as a sure bet and Blue Chipper to have an impact in the NHL. The 2003 entry draft was considered one of the very best drafts of athletes ever to be selected into the NHL. Calgary with their first pick, in the First round, selected Dion 9th overall. The highest drafted Rebel in franchise history. A record he still holds. His last two seasons in Junior he earned the Top WHL defenseman award and First Team All-stars. Dion was also chosen as the Top Player in the WHL. His Rookie season with the Calgary Flames was outstanding. He holds the Flames franchise record for most goals by a rookie defenseman (20), second for NHL rookie defensemen in goals to Bobby Orr’s (21). He was a Calder Trophy Nominee as Rookie of the Year along with Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, and named to the NHL ALL Rookie Team. There was no sophomore jinx for Dion; his point total was recognized by the fans who selected him to his first NHL ALL Star Game as a First Team All-Star starter. In his third season he was selected as an All Star as well as a Norris Trophy Nominee for Best NHL Defenseman. Dion also played for Team Canada at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia. Since entering the league in 2005 Dion leads all NHL Defensemen in Goals 76, Power-Play Goals 48, Game winning Goals 21 and Shots 1,233.

For more information regarding Dion's awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

Dr. Caleb Brown was born in Northern British Columbia in 1984 and grew up in Red Deer, Alberta. He graduated from Hunting Hills High School in 2002, then attended the University of Calgary, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology in 2006.

During the summers of his undergraduate degree, he worked for the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller was a summer palaeontology technician. Following Caleb’s BSc. he completed a Master’s Degree at the University of Calgary, investigating the anatomy, diversity, and ecology of small plant-eating dinosaurs in Western Canada, graduating in 2009. He then pursued a Doctoral degree at the University of Toronto, where association with the Royal Ontario Museum, he investigated the growth, morphology, and evolution of horned dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta.

After graduating with his PhD in the fall of 2013, Dr. Brown accepted a post-doctoral fellowship research position at the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. Through his research he has had the opportunity to conduct fieldwork in Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Mongolia, and China. As part of his research program, Dr. Brown has published 16 papers in scientific journals, and has been involved with the discovery and naming of five new species of dinosaurs.

His ongoing research position at the Royal Tyrrell Museum will see him conducting fieldwork in Dinosaur Provincial Park this summer, where he will be excavating mass death assemblages of horned dinosaurs.

For more information regarding Dr. Caleb's awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

For more information regarding Dallas' awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

A powerful performer with smoky vocals and an undeniable stage presence, Kim Wempe has been tearing up highways and stomping her way across every stage in the country for the past four years. She won an East Coast Music Award in 2010 for Rising Star of the Year, and received three award nominations in 2011. Touring consistently in Canada, Wempe has performed alongside Canadian favourites Joel Plaskett, Royal Wood, Jill Barber, David Myles, Rose Cousins, Jenn Grant, Matt Andersen, and more. She has showcased at JUNO Fest, the Vancouver Olympics, Canadian Music Week and festivals across the East Coast. Undaunted by industry expectations and challenges, Wempe has taken a big, bold leap into a whole new sound for her third album, ‘Coalition’, coming out this September.

Born in a small Saskatchewan farming town, Wempe moved to Alberta at the age of 15. In the 8 years Wempe lived in Alberta, she started performing, continued writing songs, and attended the Red Deer College Music Diploma Program. In 2007, Wempe hesitantly packed her bags for her move to Nova Scotia to attend St. Francis Xavier University and continue her music education with a Vocal Jazz Degree. She had been hoping to get into Humber College in Toronto, but to her surprise, Wempe found her musical home in Nova Scotia and dove full force into the east coast music scene.

Off the strength of her 2009 East Coast Music Award and Music Nova Scotia award-winning debut album “Where I Need To Be,” Wempe caught the attention of Joel Plaskett, Old Man Luedecke, and Geoff Hilhorst of Deep Dark Woods – all of whom appear on her subsequent release “Painting With Tides.” With producer Charles Austin at the helm, it was released in 2010 on Ground Swell Music and Warner Canada, and was nominated for an East Coast Music Award and two Music Nova Scotia Awards.

Her new album “Coalition," produced by Newfoundland soul artist Chris Kirby, showcases Wempe’s powerful vocals like never before. The album release will take her on the road across Canada and the U.S in Fall 2013, and to Australia for her first international tour in Winter 2013.

Despite Wempe's accomplishments over the years, nothing came easily or without hard work. Each accomplishment resulted from previously laid stepping stones: entering talent shows at Hunting Hills High School, playing open mics at the Vat in Red Deer, learning a new perspective on music and performance at Red Deer College. Without Red Deer College, Wempe would have never transferred to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and without that move, she would not be where she is today.

For more information regarding Kim's awards, accomplishments, and affiliates, please visit the following links:

For more information regarding Marcus's awards, accomplishments, and affiliations, please visit the following links:

The 2024 Window of Distinction winner is two-time Emmy-nominated makeup artist Danielle Hanson.

Danielle was an outstanding contributor to our drama, theatre, and technical theatre programs during her time at Hunting Hills. Since graduating, she has trained as a professional makeup artist and has become one of the elite makeup artists in the world. Danielle has worked on numerous major film and television projects, earning the admiration and recognition of her peers. Notably, she was part of the makeup team for Fargo, Season 3, Damnation, Jann, Hell on Wheels, Heartland, Lewis and Clark, Tin Star, and The Last of Us. Danielle is a makeup artist who has been nominated for two Primetime Emmys.

Window of Distinction

Window of Distinction

Amanda Lindhout

Ashlyn Bernier

Dallas Soonias

Deidra Dionne

Dion Phaneuf

Dr. Caleb Brown

Jesse Wallin

Kim Wempe

Marcus George

Danielle Hanson