From arriving at Canora Composite School in Grade 5, these graduates were anxiously waiting to be in Grade 12, said Kaitlyn Statchuk, who gave the valedictory address.
“This was the moment we have all been waiting for. We all couldn’t wait to rule the school. “But from this point on life is about to change. We measured our lives in school by classes, semesters, the
time going from one class to the next, the weekends, the summer breaks and most of all counting down the days to eventual freedom.
Here we are now. We have reached that freedom we have all been grasping for Graduates had their moment – now they move on Kaitlyn Statchuk gave the valedictory address at the Canora graduation exercises.
We are now going to measure the time of our lives by much greater and important things: by life goals, experiences, moments.”
Graduation is an emotional time for not only the graduates but also for the parents, Statchuk said. To the parents, she said: “You dragged us out of bed each morning, made sure we ate breakfast, and even picked out our clothes. You made sure every morning we weren’t late for school by basically pushing us out the door to catch the bus or by driving us to school yourselves. Even though
our homework may have been way over your heads you still tried to act smart in front of us and pretended you knew what you were talking about. Not only did
you help us pay for school fees and extracurricular activities you also listened to all our complaints and problems.
You came to watch our school plays and sporting events. You helped us out with our daily school drama whether it was about teachers, friends, or relationships.
You gave us a shoulder to cry on when life got tough but always gave us the space we needed to work out our issues ourselves.”
To the teachers, she said: “Thank you teachers for unselfishly sharing your time, talent, and knowledge with us. We know it is your job to do so but all of you have gone above and beyond to make our time in school enjoyable. You took the time to explain assignments, sometimes repeatedly because we more often than not weren’t paying attention.
You always had open arms when it came to one of us needing extra help. You put your effort into making class interesting and making us wanting to be there. Statchuk also thanked
her classmates. “Thank you for making my years at school absolutely amazing and most importantly, memorable. I will remember my time in school in a different way. I will measure it in all the friendships I have enjoyed over the years. And when many of our school memories begin to fade, that is ultimately how we will measure the time we spent here.
“Graduation is simply one stepping stone from one stage in our lives into the next. It is far better to see it as one beginning among what will inevitably be a series of beginnings in our
young lives.”
