For close to 100 Summerland Secondary School Grade 12 students, Thursday was a time to celebrate their high school accomplishments.
The school’s graduation ceremony was held at the Summerland Arena.
Linda Van Alphen, chair of the Okanagan Skaha School Board, told students the had received “a world-class education in your hometown of Summerland.”
Raja Gupta, a physics teacher at the high school, sad the students were “the finest graduates in the province of British Columbia.”
Asking the question of what was the most important subject at the high school, he said, “The answer is you. You have always been the most important subject in the school. We are here today because of you.”
Valedictorians Maya Venkaratarman and Rakesh Sharma recounted their time in the school system, from Trout Creek Elementary School and Giant’s Head Elementary School to their middle school and high school years.
“Our class quickly recognized the importance of helping others,” Venkataraman said, recalling some of the humanitarian efforts students have taken on.
She added that the families of the graduates have provided them with unwavering support.
“Our families have been the one constant in our lives,” she said.
Sharma urged his fellow graduates to start now in defining their futures.
“It’s up to us now to begin writing our stories,” he said. “If we believe, we will achieve amazing things.”