“The tassel is worth the hassle.”
That quote from fellow graduate Joey Pastorek was how valedictorians Cassandra Brown and Bowen Foulkes ended their address to the Clearwater Secondary School graduating class of 2012.
A total of 43 graduates took part in commencement ceremonies at the school on Friday evening, June 1.
This compares with about 50 last year and 40 the year before.
“Today is the day we will be going out into the world. No one said it will come easy,” the valedictorians said.
Principal Alan Stel led the evening off by introducing the three gold cord students: Elton Musselman, Allison Patterson and Baylee Sallenbach. In order to wear the cords during the ceremony the students had to be in the top five per cent of the class.
Stel paid tribute to two teachers who will retire at the end of the school year: Leslie Ross and Jim Zsednai. He also said vice-principal Peter Persad is leaving to take over as vice-principal at Sahali in Kamloops. Teacher Tricia Persad is also heading to Kamloops, to teach at Valleyview.
Educational assistant Kathie Petrie is taking a leave of absence.
Stel himself is leaving to take over as principal at Penticton Secondary School. Darren Coates, presently a vice-principal in Merritt, will take his place.
In his address to the graduates, Stel advised them to imprint key moments of their lives into their memories.
“They will ease your mind and bring peace,” he said.
School trustee and Clearwater mayor John Harwood brought greetings from the board of School District 73.
“I never thought when I left school that I would return to a life of learning,” said Harwood, who had a long career as a teacher and principal in the North Thompson Valley. “Enjoy the journey. Try to be like a turtle. Enjoy your shell ... enjoy the person you are.”
S.D. 73 superintendent Dr. Terry Sullivan also greeted the graduates.
“You’re not here by coincidence,” he said. “You’re here because of hard work ... you’ll always remember this day.”
Teacher Brent Buck was the grads’ choice to be their guest speaker.
“They made me cry when they asked me,” he said.
Buck’s advice to the grads was summarized in an “algorithmic algorithm”: PRIMATE. It stood for problem identification, research, ideation, make it, alter or adopt, test, and evaluate.
“Think, plan, do, re-do ... that’s my life,” Buck said.