HUMBOLDT — With a walk across the stage, Humboldt Collegiate’s class of 2019 capped off a 13-year journey through public school with their graduation ceremony
The ceremony was held at the Elgar Petersen Arena on June 27.
“Today is a good day,” said principal Cory Popoff to the 102 graduating students that sat behind him on the arena’s stage. “You have been made, you have been measured, and you have been found worthy to walk across the stage.”
Popoff, who’s own youngest child was a member of this year’s graduates, said he had built a strong connection with all of them.
“There's a number of kids who I coached before they arrived at HCI. I have seen them grow right up from little people to what you see here today,” he said afterwards, watching the class take photos at Civic Park. “I am definitely going to miss them.”
Braden Fleischhacker was the valedictorian, while Jayden Huls was the salutatorian.
“When our class walked through the doors of the HCI as nervous little Grade 9s, there were many things we weren't prepared for,” said Fleischhacker during his speech. “Over the last couple of years, our class adapted to the HCI rules. We're not so nervous, and not so little anymore.”
He commended the school’s drama performers, singer/songwriters and video editors for their work, and congratulated his grade’s athletes who made up provincial medal-winning soccer, volleyball, football and track and field teams.
For their efforts, the class of 2019 was awarded $30,000 in scholarships and bursaries between them, and $7,000 on graduation night.
Clare Durand received the school’s Tyler Bieber scholarship of $500, donated from an anonymous organization. The scholarship was granted to her for best representing what Bieber stood for prior to his death in 2018: accountability, excellence, positivity and leadership with a community impact that cannot be understated.
Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Thomas Molloy recognized the students’ “distinction” of graduating in the year of Louis Riel’s 175th birthday. Through a letter, Molloy called on the students to take inspiration from Métis leader, and rise to the “greatest challenge of our time” in imagining “a country where everyone is valued, and made to feel they belong.”
Fleischhacker said there was “never a dull moment for the class of 2019,” referring to quad burnouts against the outdoor walls, fireworks set off in the parking lot, and one night that involved breaking into the school, stacking chairs into pyramids, rearranging the classroom desks along the walls and filling the bathroom with balloons.
“We always had fun,” he said.
Come fall, Fleischhacker will attend Saskatchewan Polytechnic with hopes of becoming an agriculture mechanic. Huls said he is taking on an apprenticeship to become a millwright.
“I'll miss being around my closest friends more than most,” Huls said. “I guess life has to go on.”
During his salutatorian address, Huls called on the words of Dr. Seuss, “you have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. I hope that all of my fellow graduates steer themselves in the right direction.”
