Immanuel Christian grads looking to future

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

Immanuel Christian valedictorian Danya Braun

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

With the school year coming to an end, students are ready for summer, but for Grade 12 students at Immanuel Christian Secondary School, it also means getting ready for their new paths in life.

Principal Matthew Bekkering said the theme of today’s graduation is Purpose, which comes from a passage in the book of proverbs that talks about where they find their purpose and that is a big question the students ask themselves.

“Our students ask themselves what is my purpose, what path am I going to take, so I think that this theme speaks to that, and I think it’s important as well that our students also recognize that the path that they take, is going to be different from their classmates path and their purpose,” said Bekkering.

 He said the message is rooted within the message of Jesus Christ and the good news of the gospel, and they look forward to celebrating this class.

“They are a special class, really cohesive class, and a class that we’re going to miss next year for sure. I really felt like they really wanted to excel, they wanted to achieve, but it was in a sense of community,” said Bekkering.

 He said they participated in a variety of athletics, Fine Arts, and some of them led a worship team that was part of their chapels.

When it comes to selecting this year’s valedictorian, Bekkering said it was so close he had to look into their Grade 11 grades to be able to select Danya Braun, who had a 93 per cent average.

Braun said that she was not sure who would be selected throughout the year as her classmates had high averages as well, it wasn’t until she was told she had been named the valedictorian that she knew for sure it was her.

“It was it was really exciting, it’s something I’ve wanted and I knew it was close, I knew that my classmates were pretty close in grades, so it was exciting as I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen, but it was something I wanted,” said Braun.

She said she took part in sports through Grade 10 and Grade 11 at ICSS, but while in Grade 12 she had to branch out to other schools to be able to pursue what she wanted.

“I did wrestling this year and also joined LCI’s rugby team for a season,” said Braun.

She said she was able to join LCI as their school schedule is the most similar to ICSS within the division and she was able to participate after school hours.

Braun said she enjoyed wrestling so much, she will continue taking part of once she moves to post-secondary.

“I’ll be going to the University of Lethbridge to take their Bio program, and I’m also going to be competing on their wrestling team, which is new for this year, is the first time they have a wrestling team and I’m going to be a part of it,” said Braun.

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