By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

tough decision

Red Deer school divisions postpone high school grad ceremonies

Apr 23, 2020 | 2:21 PM

Red Deer’s two largest school divisions have announced the postponement of all high school graduation ceremonies.

The difficult decision was shared Thursday from Red Deer Public Schools and Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools.

Ceremonies had been scheduled for Lindsay Thurber (400 graduates), Hunting Hills (346), Gateway Christian (39), the Alernative School Centre (35), Notre Dame High School (410), St. Joseph High School (225), St. Dominic Catholic School (38) and St. Gabriel Learning Centre.

“We recognize that graduation is an important milestone in a young adult’s life. It’s a milestone that is not only meaningful for our students, but for their families and friends as well,” said Superintendent of Red Deer Public Schools, Stu Henry. “Graduation is not only a celebration of the hard work and dedication of students, but of the start of the next chapter in their lives. We know our students will move on to do great things, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavours.”

Kathleen Finnigan, interim superintendent at Red Deer Catholic, shared similar sentiments.

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“We will surely miss joining in community to celebrate this strong and successful group of Grade 12 students. We are extremely proud of their accomplishments, spiritually, academically, and emotionally, throughout their entire educational career from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12,” she said. “We will also miss celebrating alongside the many people that have created a network of support for our graduates as they navigated their educational journey. We look forward with excitement to see how these young adults will impact the world as our future leaders.”

Of course the group hardest hit by the decision is the students, and the disappointment was expressed by Haylee Coutts, a Thurber grad who has long anticipated the big day which was set for May 29 at Westerner Park.

“As COVID-19 has taken over our final year of high school, we will be missing out on one of the biggest milestones in our life, graduation,” said Coutts. “As each of us entered Grade 12, we expect senior year to be the best year yet. I have been looking forward to graduation my whole life, looking forward to feeling proud and successful. Although we know this is out of our control, we are disappointed in the outcome, failing to receive the recognition of our work. Without graduation, we will not have the proper way to say congratulations, goodbye and thank you to our classmates or teachers. Without graduation, there will be a piece of the puzzle missing in our lives.”

Chinook’s Edge School Division, Wild Rose School Division, and Wolf Creek Public Schools are yet to make formal announcements with respect to grad ceremonies.