Another year came to an end, and Oxbow Prairie Horizons School has celebrated the 2021 graduating class.
It was definitely a different year, but principal Jason Petlak said the grads adapted to the challenges and made it through.
"It's been a challenging year in terms of COVID. They've had to make a lot of changes and adapt to a lot of changes on very short notice. But they've worked through it. Class-wise, it's been a successful year for them, but they've had obviously many obstacles due to COVID," Petlak said.
Thirty-four students have graduated from Oxbow Prairie Horizons School this year. While the traditional indoor ceremony still wasn't an option, the school and parents tried to organize everything as close to normal as possible within the existing health measures.
"The school, along with the parents, have put together an outdoor graduation ceremony, which will not be open to the public this year with the restrictions of 150 people. It will be held down at the Bow Valley Park and will be an outside ceremony," Petlak said last week.
"For the most part, it'll be a similar type of ceremony that we would normally have. Obviously, it's not open to the public, so the number of people being able to attend the event is a little bit different. And then we usually invite guests to do the presentations that won't be taking place this year either."
The ceremony took place on June 29. Parents planned to decorate the stage at the park. And on the day the grads received their diplomas, which was followed by several speeches by staff and parents.
The 2021 valedictorian was Olivia Grandy, who has worked for the Mercury as a freelancer this year and is now planning to pursue further education in journalism.
Students' achievements was recognized that day as well, as the school read out the awards in terms of the scholarship presentations.
“We usually have a presentation where we invite the different groups to come in to present their scholarships. This year, the scholarships will be mailed to the students and we'll have just verbal recognition that night," Petlak explained.
For Petlak it will be the 31st and also the last class that he is graduating, as he is retiring this year. While it will be special for him, he said the main focus will be on the graduates, as the school and the parents put a lot of effort into making the best day possible for the students.
"Like every year, we have a great group of graduates, a great group of students that are moving on. Years and years down the road this group especially is going to remember living through the year and a half already of COVID, so certainly they'll have a bond and a connection to each other that a lot of other graduating classes thankfully haven't had to go through," Petlak said.
"They've been very resilient, very understanding, very adaptable. And for the most part, very understanding that certain things had to work out certain ways as a result of the pandemic and realizing that their year is a lot different than other graduating classes. But I think they're making the best out of the situation."
"And I wish nothing but the best of luck to the graduates of 2021. I think that they certainly gained strength from what they've gone through this past year. I know that they will be a very successful group moving out, whether it's post-secondary or into the workforce."
