24 proud graduates will cross the stage at École Saint-Joachim in La Broquerie on Friday afternoon, ready to embrace the next chapter of their lives.
Principal Karine Pilotte speaks highly of this year’s class, describing them as curious, ambitious, and respectful.
“I think this is a group that is ready for their next step in life. They are very involved in the community, so that's very good because that's one of our values in our school, to give back to your community, especially the French community. I'm sure that in the next few years we will see them again. They will come back, visit us and we can't wait.”
The school recently underwent an expansion and officially reopened in December 2024, giving students the chance to enjoy the brand-new space during their final school year.
“They had the chance for their last year of school to enjoy this new space that they've been wanting forever, and they saw it being built for the last couple of years and they weren't sure if they would be able to use it and enjoy the space.”
Valedictorians Emilie Nadeau and Natasha Lebrun say being able to enjoy the new addition made their final year even more memorable.
“We've been seeing this school being built since the ninth grade and finally being able to be part of it is amazing. We got told there was a chance that this class might have been able to be in the school so it's super exciting. It actually gets to feel like a high school being on our own floor,” says Nadeau.
Pilotte agrees the experience made a meaningful difference.
“I'm very happy for them for that because it's part of the overall experience and it's an important piece for them.”
Looking ahead, Pilotte says the future is bright for the class of 2025.
“I am very happy for them to step into the next chapter in their life. And hopefully they know that they are always welcome here, and I can't wait to see them grow in our community.”
For Lebrun, who plans to study psychology at Université de Saint-Boniface, one of her favourite parts of high school was the bond formed with classmates.
“If I had to pick one, it would be one of all the days that we would go and fool around in class and not really care about finishing our schoolwork and we just all just hung around and laughed a lot.”
Nadeau, who’s heading to Red River College in Steinbach for the health care aide program says she’ll always remember one event in particular.
“This is more of a recent memory, but our last ever ‘Grade Wars’. Most of our class showed up and we were all together taking lots of pictures, and it was our last big thing together and it was really exciting and a very good memory.”
Lebrun expresses gratitude on behalf of the class.
“I'm very thankful for all the teachers for helping us and supporting us and our parents for helping us through this journey. I know we had lots of good days and bad days, and the teachers really made an effort to be there for us and support us in many ways.”
Although it’s an exciting milestone, Nadeau shares the mix of emotions many graduates feel as they prepare to say goodbye.
“Graduation right now is, it's exciting, but it's also very nerve wracking and scary. We’re such a small class. So, we got to really be close to each other over the last 13 years. It's kind of all I've all I've known, so leaving these people is pretty hard. I really love them.”
As the class prepares to toss their caps and step into the future, she leaves her peers with a heartfelt reminder.
“Keep on learning, take risks, get out of your comfort zone,” Nadeau says. “Don't be scared to live. Appreciate those small moments in life, they come and they go. Spread kindness most of all, you never know what someone's going through, so it's very important to be nice to others.”
