Summerland Secondary School will present high school diplomas to 104 Grade 12 students at the school’s graduation ceremony on June 23.
The ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m., will be held at Summerland Arena. The number of graduating students is similar to recent years.
Trevor Robinson, principal of Summerland Secondary School, said the students have learned much during their time at school and will have received skills to help them in the coming months and years.
“They are prepared for all of the challenges they will face in the future,” he said.
“We aim to teach students to be learners first and foremost,” he said.
Robinson noted that this year’s graduating students have already witnessed some remarkable changes during their time in high school.
These graduating students are among the first to have had artificial intelligence tools available to them and have had to learn to navigate the ethics and challenges involved in using this new technology.
During the graduation ceremony, expected to last around two hours, students will receive bursaries and awards from community organizations. The bursaries this year are expected to come to close to $100,000.
“This community has a real legacy of supporting its students,” he said.
In addition, some of the graduates have received partial and full-ride scholarships for post-secondary education.
One student has already received and accepted a basketball scholarship at a university in Alberta.
Other students have received multiple scholarship options and deciding which to accept.
“We have a history of students receiving substantial scholarship offers from across the country,” Robinson said.
In addition to the graduation ceremony, the school will also have its annual grad parade on Saturday, June 21, beginning at 4 p.m. This parade begins around 4 p.m. and is held in Summerland’s downtown area.
