By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on June 25, 2022.
Lethbridge Collegiate Institute is feeling a sense of relief to get back to a normal grad ceremony on Tuesday.
The convocation will see 228 students cross the stage on June 28 at the Enmax Centre, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and the grand march at 6:30 p.m.
“It works out perfectly because with… the unlimited seating for families – you can bring two people or 20 people,” said LCI principal Wayne Pallett.
“It’s kind of nice because you can bring lots of extended family and friends.”
Pallett said the total number of students graduating is average over the last couple of years.
“It’s not far off from what we’ve done the last few years,” he said.
“Over the next couple years our grad classes will really start to increase. Next year will be about 280 and years after that it’ll be about 360 and 370.”
After the last few years of adjusting graduation ceremonies due to COVID, Pallett said it’s a little bit extra special in 2022.
“It’s been since 2019 that we ran our first full in-person graduation – our last one,” said Pallett.
“And really what’s kind of exciting for this is we get a chance to do it at the Enmax, we get a chance to have the students cross the stage and do the handshakes… and then that evening, we have to come back and do the grand march in the formal wear and to have the time to do a dance that follows.”
LCI Class of 2022 Valedictorian is Kieran Schmidtke.
“Valedictorian at LCI is chosen based off of academic results and those types of things,” said Pallett.
“So he’s the top of our class.”
Schmidtke was a participant in school leadership and volunteerism as well as many other things.
“Very much a well-rounded student at LCI,” said Pallett.
Schmidtke is a national finalist for a Loran Scholarship that is valued at $100,000 over four years.