For the students at Grassland School, Boyle School and Edwin Parr Composite, years of hard work paid off in full last weekend.
All three local schools held their graduation ceremonies on Saturday. EPC took over the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, Boyle School made fine use of their gymnasium and Grassland School filled up the Grassland Community Hall.
Five students said goodbye to Grassland School on Saturday night, but like the dance that followed it, the graduation was celebratory.
School principal Marty Leach felt that each graduate richly deserved his special night.
“They’ve had to work hard to get through, and the accomplishments are theirs,” he said. “Hopefully they move forward and learn from it.”
With a theme of ‘Never Look Back, But Never Forget’, the graduates of Boyle School bravely took the next step on their journeys without casting their eyes backwards.
“I hope they will remember the school and come back now and then to let us know that they are indeed moving with gusto into the future,” said principal Art Shea.
Over 100 students graduated from Edwin Parr Composite, and all of them worked extremely hard to earn their diplomas.
Deanna Fernandes, EPC's valedictorian, urged her classmates to "start taking bigger chances with bigger consequences."
Instead of looking back at their school years together, Fernandes told them to look to the future.
"As we move on, we might as well do the best we can," she said.
"Do everything that you can and love every second of it."