Maverick School students saluted during grad ceremony
The 16 graduating students from Maverick School were given an emotional sendoff during their graduation supper and ceremony on June 13.
The evening allowed the faculty an opportunity to individually salute the students and recognize them for overcoming a variety of obstacles in order to receive their graduation certificate.
Rachel Stevenson was Maverick’s 2018 Governor General Award Winner for completing her studies with a 94 per cent average. As last year’s top graduating student, she delivered the address to the 2019 graduates.
“I don’t know how else to describe my school other than a family - a large, crazy, weird, somewhat dysfunctional family,” Stevenson said in her address.
“At Maverick, I feel like I belong. I feel like I am loved. I feel like I am valued. All of these are feeling that no school has ever given me before. I know many other students would agree with me when I say Maverick is a school like no other.”
In the fall Stevenson will be attending the University of Saskatchewan to study biochemistry, and eventually work in the area of medical research.
“My strive for this is my amazing mother. She is my biggest inspiration. I want to one day cure Multiple Sclerosis so that my mother and the millions of other people like her no longer have to suffer from this horrible disease.”
“I know that the students on this stage today have as bright of a future ahead of them as I hope that I do, and I would like to wish all of them a huge congratulations on their graduation today.”
Maverick School Principal Jayne Nicholson congratulated the Class of 2019 in the final address of the evening. She recalled their times of tears, laughter and shenanigans over the school year.
“Know that we have treasured every minute we have spent with you. And just as we have taught you, you have certainly taught us. Thank your for those lessons and for the sharing of yourself,” she said.
Nicholson also pointed to the Maverick School 2019 grad them surrounding a quote attributed to Carl Bard “Though to one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
In her speech she invited the students to turn back the clock and think about first day came to Maverick.
“For all of you, that day signified a brand new started,” she said.
“For some of you, Maverick was a new adventure. For others it may have felt like a second chance, or maybe even a final frontier. You closed one door so that you could open another. You started from that day, that now, and you created this brand new ending.”
She reminded the students that life a series of endings and new beginnings. And while they can’t change the past, they can learn from it and let it go.
“Each new day is an opportunity to chose your path to a happy ending.”
She hoped that the Maverick School experienced provided the students insight into what works for them, and what didn’t work for them.
“You know what it means to be committed to a goal. You’ve shown us that you were very willing to show up, to persist, to surround yourselves with positive people, to think critically and creatively, to self evaluate for personal growth, to plan for the future, and to meet your needs in the positive ways that move you forward. These are all the choices that create a new ending that at one point may have seemed unavailable.”
“I want you to always be proud of what you have overcome, what you have accomplished, and most importantly who you are. You are Maverick graduates. I want you to always stand tall.”