Teacher Peter Gajda delivers the keynote address at the 2015 graduation. (Richard McGuire file photo)
With Osoyoos Secondary School closing its doors in just over two weeks, a ceremony to send off the class of 2016 will mark the final chapter in the school’s legacy.
For the 37th and final year of the school’s operation, 39 graduating students are taking the march down the school gym to collect their diplomas on June 29.
“It marks the end of their Kindergarten to Grade 12 career and marks the beginning of another chapter of learning, and for some of them it marks their entry into the workforce,” said principal Mike Safek. “For all of the kids it will be the last time they’re together in the same school. Most of them have gone to school together from start to finish, knowing each other through their whole public school career.”
Safek said the coming-of-age ceremony will be bittersweet for the graduates, who feel heavy-hearted to become disconnected with the peers they had been surrounded by for the majority of their lives, while also looking forward to the beginning of adulthood.
“We’re looking forward to making the ceremony memorable and offering a good send off for them,” said Safek.
The ceremony is slated to begin at 6 p.m., though it may be changed to start earlier, as Safek anticipates the program may run longer than expected because it will be the school’s final ceremony.
Before the official grad ceremony, OSS students continued the tradition of a private prom.
That celebration took place last Friday evening at the Osoyoos Golf Club and, as has become tradition in this community, was not sanctioned by the school, but organized by students and parents.
Ongoing fundraising efforts throughout the school year allowed the school to celebrate a Dry Grad Trip during the last weekend in May.
Students who are set to graduate in two weeks took a trip to Vancouver to experience ziplining, going on the midway rides at the Pacific National Exhibition and enjoying a few restaurants and metropolis attractions.
DAN WALTON
Osoyoos Times
