Grade 12 students from Summerland Secondary School will receive their high school diplomas next week.
The school’s graduation ceremony will be held at the Summerland Arena on Friday, June 30, beginning at 11 a.m.
This year, 93 students will be graduating.
“It’s an outstanding group of kids,” said Chris Van Bergeyk, principal of the high school. “Summerland is a fantastic community, and that is borne out in the kids we get.”
Van Bergeyk said this is the smallest graduating class he has seen in his six years as principal. Larger graduating classes are expected in the next two years.
The valedictorians this year are Rachel Shanner and Greg Mercer.
Students will receive scholarships and bursaries from many local businesses and organizations.
Van Bergeyk said the local bursaries are worth almost $77,000. In addition, students will receive provincial and local scholarships worth more than $30,000.
These figures do not include scholarship offers from universities.
“The people will get to see the outstanding achievements of some of these future leaders,” Van Bergeyk said.
In addition to the graduation ceremony, the students will have their formal events on June 29. These include a procession through the downtown area beginning at 5 p.m., a formal photo and the grand march.
After the graduation on June 30, a dry grad event will be held at the high school, beginning at 9 p.m.