Bjorkdale’s class of 2017 like siblings

The class of 2017 at Bjorkdale School is small and close.

“We’re pretty much like siblings,” said Taryn Woulfe, at the June 10 ceremony. “We’re all alike but we’re different in our unique little ways and we’ve always just gotten along, which is really nice. There was never any drama.”

Austin Hamel agreed with Woulfe’s assessment.

“It works kind of like a family structure. There are three sisters and they always gang up on me because I’m the only boy,” he said. “We’re all smart. We all get good grades and all planning to go to school in the future. It’s been a lot of fun for 13 years.”

Maya Jorde said the four grads are close friends

“We’ve been going to school together since preschool, so we’ve got really close.”

Britney Nakonieczny said the graduation ceremony was a celebration of the 13 years she spent at the school.

“It think it was pretty great. Bjorkdale School was a great experience, growing up in a small community really, I think, shaped how I learned,” she said. “I always had support from my teachers and my friends.”

Austin Hamel said the time went too fast.

“It seemed like it went by really fast,” he said. “It was fun. I’d rather be here than anywhere else.”

Both Woulfe and Jorde said they were excited to start university next year.

“I’m glad that I got above an 80 average pretty much every year at Bjorkdale School, so I’m just really excited to start a new life at the University of Saskatchewan,” Woulfe said.

Each of the four grads takes away different memories of their time at the school. For Woulfe, it was the class trips. For Nakonieczny, it was the feeling of always being welcome. For Jorde, it was having fun at dress rehearsals.

“A good memory is in Grade 1, we’d always race to see who could dress up the fastest in wintertime, we’d always race to see who put on ski pants,” Hamel said. “It was always a challenge between us. It was always a challenge who could do it the best.”

Hamel said the teachers at the school are really good, trying to prepare them for post-secondary.

“They try really hard. They’ve probably given us the best quality of education.”

Woulfe plans to take environmental sciences at the University of Saskatchewan after a year of travel. Hamel plans to work on the farm for a year before going to school for something like a trade. Nakonieczny is going to the University of Saskatchewan for geology.  Jorde will be going to the University of Saskatchewan, but she hasn’t decided her degree.

Jorde said she enjoyed her time at Bjorkdale School.

“It’s really good. It’s really helped me grow. I’ve really been able to be myself there, express myself and really grow as a person.”