It all comes down to one day and three hours.
The graduating class of Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School celebrated 12 years of education in the Innisfail Middle School gymnasium in front of nearly 400 parents, grandparents and dignitaries on June 26.
Entering the gymnasium to the official Pomp and Circumstance tune, played by the Imps Concert Band, 84 members of the graduating class listened to introductions by teachers Meghan Adams and Ian Holsworth.
Local dignitaries MLA Kerry Towle, Innisfail mayor Brian Spiller, and Holly Bilton, Chinook's Edge School Division (CESD) trustee, congratulated the grads on their achievements.
Wayne Pineau, Innisfail High School principal, and Shawn Russell, CESD associate superintendent, presented diplomas to the graduands in attendance while their future plans and favourite school memories were announced.
The appreciative audience laughed as they heard phrases like, “making lots of cash” and “taking a year off”, alongside aspirations of future education and career plans from doctor to mechanic.
High School math teacher Don Bexon spoke to the students on behalf of the staff.
“I can't believe it's over,” said Bexon of the most common phrase he said the students would say over the course of the day. Bexon added he wished he was as popular as teacher Jeanne Hunter, noting most of the students mentioned her in their favourite memory.
He spoke of students asking, “When am I going to use this?” in reference to trigonometry or calculus, adding even he didn't use high math in normal life but it did help teach students to think and analyze their world.
Co-valedictorians Shawn Abraham and Courtney Orton reminded their fellow students that the gauntlet “has been thrown down” and their “greatest adventure had yet to begin.”
“I wish you enough,” said Pineau to the graduating class in his address, citing Chuck Norris while challenging the students to look on the positive side of what they can do in the world. He also left students with Pineau's first law, that being “life is not fair”, while encouraging them to pursue their dreams.
The morning ceremony ended with the traditional hat toss on the front lawn of the high school.
As the mortarboards flew into the air at 10:30 a.m., families and students gathered for pictures in the morning sun and began preparations for the banquet and class picture later in the day.
