Chinook High grads say goodbye on home turf

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on June 28, 2023.

Chinook valedictorian Kiran Beres

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

Chinook High School students will be crossing the stage today right at home, as their convocation ceremony is taking place in the school’s gymnasium.

Vice-principal Duane Piper said this year graduation class will see 243 students crossing the stage to celebrate 12 years of academic accomplishments.

“In the last four years they have really exemplified some of the best parts of Coyote character, they have been resilient, they have sure grown over four years and we just couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Piper.

He said this class in particular started their high school years thinking it was going to be a regular high school but during their winter semester they found out otherwise.

“They started their Grade 9 in person expecting it to be just another school year and when the COVID-19 pandemic got going we all moved online for that very first time, and that’s how they ended their Grade 9,” said Piper.

 He said their Grade 10 year was a combination of online and in-person education which was very uncertain and required them to become more adaptable and resilient, and in Grade 11 school life started to return to normal.

 “They’ve had an uninterrupted Grade 12 finally and they have been just excited to have the grade 12 that they deserved, right with a full yoke day, live concerts, football games with 2,000 people in the audience, and now to cap it all off an in-person convocation ceremony,” said Piper.

He said the convocation ceremony is actually the second celebration of the year for the students, as they had a graduation gala in May to celebrate 12 years of studies with all the students in Grade 12, including those who will not be crossing the stage today, to make sure their efforts throughout the last 12 years were celebrated.

“It’s a celebration of 12 years of hard work and coming together as friends, and as an education community and then the convocation ceremony is a celebration of achievement, as everyone that’s crossing that stage has earned a high school diploma, they’ve met all graduation requirements, so it’s more of a celebration of academics achievement,” said Piper.

He said a big part of their convocation ceremony is celebrating their valedictorian, who is named based on their Grade Point Average throughout high school, not just their Grade 12 grades.

“We actually don’t choose our valedictorian, that distinction is earned. They show tremendous dedication to their studies for the three years of high school, and the student with the highest academic average from grade 10 to grade 12 becomes a valedictorian,” said Piper.

 He said 25 per cent comes from their Grade 10 average, 25 per cent from their Grade 11 average and 50 per cent from their Grade 12 average.

This year’s Valedictorian is Kiran Beres and Piper said he distinguished himself by being a well-rounded student.

“Sometimes students are little more strong in the math and sciences, sometimes students are more strong in the humanities like English and Social Studies, but Kiran is strong all around,” said Piper.

Beres said he found out he was this year’s valedictorian by phone when Piper called him last week with the news, but he was not expecting what happened next.

“I heard a large engine pull up to my front porch, I heard a kind of ceremonial music being played and it turned out it was the entire Chinook admin team that came to my house to congratulate me. It was a thrill for sure, they put a sign on my lawn for the whole neighbourhood to see, with my face on it that said that I was the valedictorian,” said Beres.

Piper said this was the first year they have done that, but will continue to do it in the years ahead.

Beres said being named the valedictorian was even more special and more rewarding because of the circumstances he gained the privilege under.

“I had a very tough year with my mom being seriously ill, in the hospital, having to balance that plus I was playing hockey at the U18AA level, so there wasn’t much time especially from November to February was quite tough, so I think it was just a good way to show my resilience,” said Beres.

 He said he spent a lot of time doing schoolwork in the hospital room next to his mom, but now she is much better and excited to be there to watch him cross the stage.

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