Eighteen Carat Graduation
By: Rebecca Nielsen
As the school year draws to a close we say a fond farewell to this year’s graduating class: the class of 2018. Our graduates have changed a lot in the twelve years between kindergarten and grade twelve, and the world has changed with them.
In 2006, the population of Canada was 32.57 million, the population of Brooks was 12,508, and the graduating class of 2006 was 157. Today, Canada’s population has grown to 36.95 million, Brooks has swelled to 14,500, and the class of 2018 number 163 students.
In 2006, the Prime Minister of Canada was Stephen Harper and the Governor General was Michaëlle Jean. Today the Prime Minister is Justin Trudeau and the Governor General is Julie Payette.
In 2006, commencement was held in the Sparrow arena, but as the number of graduates grew, the building had to as well. Today’s graduations are held at the Centennial Regional Arena. It is no easy task to turn a hockey arena into an auditorium worthy for arguably the most important day of a high school student’s life, but each year a dedicated group of teachers, parents, and student volunteers work to make it a reality. This group is led by Mrs.Carmichael, Mr.Lohmann, Mrs.Morris, and Mr.Nelson who all put countless hours in grad each year.
Grad isn’t just decorating the arena and walking across a stage for a diploma,though. The preparations for grad start at the beginning of the graduating classes’ grade twelve year when they elect their grad committee. This year’s committee was comprised of seven students: Jarod Delaney, Jenny Gao, Rachel Harvey, Stephanie Kelly-Stacey, Dickson Lai, Audra Lutterotti, and Natalie Shui. These students worked to organize many grad events, like grad week and turkey supper. Mrs.Baumgartner and Mrs.Stroeder were the commencement advisors that oversaw the entire grad.
Another part of the festivities this year was prom, which occurred the night before commencement. Prom is a relatively new thing for the Brooks Composite High School, this being the second prom ever held, but it was an overwhelming success. The prom took place in the field house of the JBS Canada Centre and was kicked off by a grand march where students showed off their grad dresses and suits.
The commencement was also a big success, and all the speakers delivered well written speeches. The night started off with a quick introduction from the masters of ceremonies Mr.Rajab and Miss.Spence who kept the program running smoothly, and then the processional filed in, led by Constable Jutras and Constable Gill. After all the chairs on the stage had filled graduate Paige Wilson officially started the event with her singing of O’Canada. It takes immense confidence to just deliver a speech to a crowd, but leading the anthem is completely different, and Paige did an amazing job. As always, the tribute to the parents, the year given by Gloria Livingston and her mother Katherine Livingston, was heartfelt, funny, and encompassed the some eighteen years of love that the graduate’s parents have showered their children with. After Gloria’s speech and her mother’s response, you would’ve been hard pressed to find a dry eye in the crowd.
The tribute to the teachers was given by Logan Melendy, who kept the speech light and funny, but also took a few moments to thank the teachers who personally helped him get on the graduating stage that afternoon. When he got to the podium to deliver his speech, he paused and looked back at his classmates seated behind him and said: “Show of hands: who is nervous for my speech?” Nearly the entire class raised their hand, causing some laughter from both Melendy and some slightly nervous laughter from the audience. Thankfully, the speech went smoothly. Mr.Cameron, the teacher chosen to do the response, also leaned toward a funnier speech, but also mentioned how this year’s graduating class was very important to him as he started teaching at BCHS the year they started grade ten, and felt that they really helped him spread his wings and grow his roots as a teacher.
The Class of 2018 Message was delivered by Audra Lutterotti who had a little nugget of advice for her classmates to carry with them wherever life takes them: to not fear change. She spoke about how change can be at times terrifying,though it is a part of life and needs to be embraced. To bring her point home she gave a personal example about how she had struggled with deciding on what post-secondary courses to take and ended up switching her courses quite late in the year. Even though Lutterotti was directing her advice to her fellow classmates, her advice touched everyone in attendance that afternoon.
Mr.Petley-Jones’ principal’s message was interesting and left both the graduates and the audience something to think about. He started the speech off by telling a story about a man who started importing athletic shoes from Japan to sell in the United States. The man didn’t end up having an easy time getting his business up and running, but eventually he became the man who started the company we know today as nike. Then he went on to talk about a high school English teacher who worked nights as a slaughter house janitor. This man didn’t want to be a teacher or a janitor; he wanted to be an author. So he worked on his novel whenever he could spare a moment and then sent it off to a publisher, only to be rejected. And then rejected,then rejected again, until the thirty-first publisher said they would give the story a shot. This man was Stephen King and that story is his now famous novel Carrie. These stories may seem like odd choices for a graduation because they are both about adults, but they have a kernel of advice for everyone; to keep working no matter what. Mr.Petley-Jones finished his speech off with a quote, the same quote he had selected to be his yearbook quote in grade twelve: “If you want to leave footprints in the sands of time you better wear work boots.”
The valedictorian’s address was given by Jordan Wong this year. Like many valedictorians in the past, Wong took the time to reflect back on the three years they spent as a class in high school. He remarked on how different each individual on the stage is and how each one is going down a different path, but no path is better than any other. Overall, Wong gave an inspiring and touching speech that will stay with the graduates specifically as they embark into this new chapter of their lives.
After all of the speeches had drawn to a close, it was finally time to see all of our graduates’ hard work pay off as they received their certificates. One by one they filed across the stage, then all together they threw their hats into the air, and walked out of the arena as Hall of Fame by The Script played. After twelve years of homework, pep rallies,tests, friendships, morning practices, and classroom jokes, the graduating class of 2018 has become the graduated class of 2018.
By: Rebecca Nielsen
As the school year draws to a close we say a fond farewell to this year’s graduating class: the class of 2018. Our graduates have changed a lot in the twelve years between kindergarten and grade twelve, and the world has changed with them.
In 2006, the population of Canada was 32.57 million, the population of Brooks was 12,508, and the graduating class of 2006 was 157. Today, Canada’s population has grown to 36.95 million, Brooks has swelled to 14,500, and the class of 2018 number 163 students.
In 2006, the Prime Minister of Canada was Stephen Harper and the Governor General was Michaëlle Jean. Today the Prime Minister is Justin Trudeau and the Governor General is Julie Payette.
In 2006, commencement was held in the Sparrow arena, but as the number of graduates grew, the building had to as well. Today’s graduations are held at the Centennial Regional Arena. It is no easy task to turn a hockey arena into an auditorium worthy for arguably the most important day of a high school student’s life, but each year a dedicated group of teachers, parents, and student volunteers work to make it a reality. This group is led by Mrs.Carmichael, Mr.Lohmann, Mrs.Morris, and Mr.Nelson who all put countless hours in grad each year.
Grad isn’t just decorating the arena and walking across a stage for a diploma,though. The preparations for grad start at the beginning of the graduating classes’ grade twelve year when they elect their grad committee. This year’s committee was comprised of seven students: Jarod Delaney, Jenny Gao, Rachel Harvey, Stephanie Kelly-Stacey, Dickson Lai, Audra Lutterotti, and Natalie Shui. These students worked to organize many grad events, like grad week and turkey supper. Mrs.Baumgartner and Mrs.Stroeder were the commencement advisors that oversaw the entire grad.
Another part of the festivities this year was prom, which occurred the night before commencement. Prom is a relatively new thing for the Brooks Composite High School, this being the second prom ever held, but it was an overwhelming success. The prom took place in the field house of the JBS Canada Centre and was kicked off by a grand march where students showed off their grad dresses and suits.
The commencement was also a big success, and all the speakers delivered well written speeches. The night started off with a quick introduction from the masters of ceremonies Mr.Rajab and Miss.Spence who kept the program running smoothly, and then the processional filed in, led by Constable Jutras and Constable Gill. After all the chairs on the stage had filled graduate Paige Wilson officially started the event with her singing of O’Canada. It takes immense confidence to just deliver a speech to a crowd, but leading the anthem is completely different, and Paige did an amazing job. As always, the tribute to the parents, the year given by Gloria Livingston and her mother Katherine Livingston, was heartfelt, funny, and encompassed the some eighteen years of love that the graduate’s parents have showered their children with. After Gloria’s speech and her mother’s response, you would’ve been hard pressed to find a dry eye in the crowd.
The tribute to the teachers was given by Logan Melendy, who kept the speech light and funny, but also took a few moments to thank the teachers who personally helped him get on the graduating stage that afternoon. When he got to the podium to deliver his speech, he paused and looked back at his classmates seated behind him and said: “Show of hands: who is nervous for my speech?” Nearly the entire class raised their hand, causing some laughter from both Melendy and some slightly nervous laughter from the audience. Thankfully, the speech went smoothly. Mr.Cameron, the teacher chosen to do the response, also leaned toward a funnier speech, but also mentioned how this year’s graduating class was very important to him as he started teaching at BCHS the year they started grade ten, and felt that they really helped him spread his wings and grow his roots as a teacher.
The Class of 2018 Message was delivered by Audra Lutterotti who had a little nugget of advice for her classmates to carry with them wherever life takes them: to not fear change. She spoke about how change can be at times terrifying,though it is a part of life and needs to be embraced. To bring her point home she gave a personal example about how she had struggled with deciding on what post-secondary courses to take and ended up switching her courses quite late in the year. Even though Lutterotti was directing her advice to her fellow classmates, her advice touched everyone in attendance that afternoon.
Mr.Petley-Jones’ principal’s message was interesting and left both the graduates and the audience something to think about. He started the speech off by telling a story about a man who started importing athletic shoes from Japan to sell in the United States. The man didn’t end up having an easy time getting his business up and running, but eventually he became the man who started the company we know today as nike. Then he went on to talk about a high school English teacher who worked nights as a slaughter house janitor. This man didn’t want to be a teacher or a janitor; he wanted to be an author. So he worked on his novel whenever he could spare a moment and then sent it off to a publisher, only to be rejected. And then rejected,then rejected again, until the thirty-first publisher said they would give the story a shot. This man was Stephen King and that story is his now famous novel Carrie. These stories may seem like odd choices for a graduation because they are both about adults, but they have a kernel of advice for everyone; to keep working no matter what. Mr.Petley-Jones finished his speech off with a quote, the same quote he had selected to be his yearbook quote in grade twelve: “If you want to leave footprints in the sands of time you better wear work boots.”
The valedictorian’s address was given by Jordan Wong this year. Like many valedictorians in the past, Wong took the time to reflect back on the three years they spent as a class in high school. He remarked on how different each individual on the stage is and how each one is going down a different path, but no path is better than any other. Overall, Wong gave an inspiring and touching speech that will stay with the graduates specifically as they embark into this new chapter of their lives.
After all of the speeches had drawn to a close, it was finally time to see all of our graduates’ hard work pay off as they received their certificates. One by one they filed across the stage, then all together they threw their hats into the air, and walked out of the arena as Hall of Fame by The Script played. After twelve years of homework, pep rallies,tests, friendships, morning practices, and classroom jokes, the graduating class of 2018 has become the graduated class of 2018.