St. Albert students are gearing up for full-fledged graduation ceremonies later this month for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Hundreds of Grade 12 students in the St. Albert and Sturgeon County region will don their mortarboards and grasp their diplomas in the coming weeks as they graduate from high school.
Most of those graduation ceremonies will be full-fledged indoor events paired with banquets, dances, and fancy clothes — much different from the outdoor, drive-through, audience-restricted affairs schools held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 health restrictions on public gatherings.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking, to be honest,” said Paul Kane grad co-president Lauren Friesen, as no one in this year’s grad class has ever seen a “normal” grad ceremony at the school.
Friesen said Paul Kane grads have been selling chocolates and collecting bottles to raise funds for this year’s ceremony, and have resumed some large-scale grad events, such as games night. But the ongoing pandemic means many classic activities, such as the school’s garage sale and movie night, are still off limits.
“There’s a lot of opportunities we’ve missed out on because of COVID,” Friesen said.
The grad season
St. Albert Catholic High Grade 12 students kicked off St. Albert’s grad season with a dress rehearsal on May 10, during which they practiced their celebratory grad-cap tosses. They will hold a graduation mass at Holy Family Parish on May 12 and a grad dance the day after. The actual graduation ceremony will be at the Edmonton Winspear Centre on May 20.
Rory Vandermeer said she is excited to be one of this year’s 175 SACHS graduates, and already has her post-grad party planned out.
“After the Winspear, [my friends and I] are all getting on a big party bus that’s going to take us around Edmonton,” she said, with a joint camping trip to Jasper planned in the days after.
Vandermeer said many SACHS grads have been posting pictures of their grad dresses and suits online. Big ball gowns and lots of layers seem to be “in” this year, as are plenty of colours.
École Alexandre-Taché will hold its grad ceremony in the school’s gym on June 3. As per usual, the Paul Kane and Bellerose grad ceremonies will be at the Edmonton Convention Centre — June 4 for Paul Kane, and June 11 for Bellerose. The Sturgeon Composite grad is at the Edmonton Expo Centre June 11.
Morinville Community High grads will get their diplomas June 25 at the Winspear, said grad co-ordinator Susanne Christensen. With about 105 members, it will be the school’s smallest grad class in 23 years.
“With COVID and everything we’ve lost a lot of students who are not on track to graduate,” she said, many of whom fell behind due to shifts to and from in-class instruction.
“For this Grade 12 class, they haven’t had a normal high-school year.”
Looking back
Friesen and grad co-president Stuti Mankotia said student activities in school have been very limited in the last two years, with much of their high-school education spent learning at home alone.
“It was hard to get out of the house and experience stuff you’d normally experience in a normal school year,” Mankotia said.
Mankotia said this year’s grad will be of special significance to Paul Kane students, as it will be the last one held in the current school building — the new Paul Kane is expected to open this fall.
“When you come back here to reminisce, it’ll be a parking lot,” she joked.
Friesen and Mankotia said being grad presidents allowed them to be involved in every school activity and connect with the 375-some members of their graduating class, all of whom have been through a very difficult three years.
“Congratulations on a good job,” Friesen said to the Class of 2022.
“You’ve been through a lot,” Mankotia added.
