Another school year has come and gone and it’s time to celebrate the achievements of our 2017/18 high school graduates.
Grad weekend is always an emotional time.
For parents, it’s the culmination of 17 years of supporting and cheering on their children.
When they’re little, that means getting up with them in the night when they are sick or wake up afraid. It’s holding onto their little hands when they take those first steps, or comforting them on their first days of school as they learn to make new friends.
It might mean setting the alarm at 5 a.m. on weekends for those early morning hockey games, or volunteering time as a coach, girl guide or scout leader in the evenings after a long day at work.
Many parents are there every step of the way, making sure their children are doing their best and staying on the right track to stay safe and be successful in life.
For graduates, it’s finally time to stretch those wings and fly; to get out from under their parents’ watchful eye and start making their own life, their own way, with their own rules.
While some graduates are young and carefree, others will have already faced many challenges in their youth making graduation a bittersweet time.
It’s always reassuring to see just how put together most Grade 12 graduates are; many already having everything in place to head to university in the fall, start a trades program or travel the world.
For those who are not directly involved in this weekend’s grad, the event is a reminder of our own school memories and the years that followed; whatever that may be.
If you’re planning on watching the grad parade you will see all those personalities you knew in school, they are all still there — the bad boys and girls with a gleam in their eyes, the jocks, the studious types, the loners. They are all texting now and on their cell phones, but they’re still basically the same.
This year’s graduation schedule in Williams Lake is different than last year. The graduation ceremonies for Lake City Secondary School will take place Friday, June 8 starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex. The Dry Grad Parade and Dry Grad festivities will take place Saturday late afternoon, with graduates and their dates mustering at 5 p.m. at the corner of Comer Street and 2nd Ave. North for the parade followed by the Dry Grad which wraps up the following morning.
We encourage everyone to head downtown Saturday at about 5 p.m. (for a 5:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. start) and cheer on the successes of our graduates and their families.
- Williams Lake Tribune
Read more: Arena transformed into Caribbean Night for Williams Lake Dry Grad