Rachel Steinbrunner and her classmates are graduating with a lot of memories.
From spirit days to carnivals, sporting events and house challenges, the valedictorian is grateful she went to Roland Michener Secondary School.
“If you do get the chance to go there or decide to go there, make it everything that you can because when you do you leave with super incredible experiences, awesome memories and really incredible bonds with your teachers and coaches and friends that hopefully last a long time,” she said ahead of their June 29 graduation.
The Class of 2020 had a memorable end to the year.
Throughout the winter they were out of the classroom for rolling teachers' strikes and snow days. When they broke for March Break, public schools were closed for an additional two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They haven't been back in the traditional classroom since.
At District School Board Ontario North East, each school chose between a virtual or physically distanced graduation.
Roland Michener was initially looking at a virtual ceremony, but when restrictions eased earlier this month they changed gears.
This week, a tailgate graduation was held in the field at the South Porcupine high school.
Graduates and their families drove in and had a space behind their vehicle to watch the ceremony. Students were called up one at a time to ensure physical distancing while picking up their diploma and pose for a photo.
For Steinbrunner, having an in-person ceremony makes it easier to say goodbye.
“RM and I think every student who has been there would agree that it’s such a tight-knit and small community and so having to say goodbye and doing the ceremony over Zoom would just feel very unfulfilling if it were that way. Just being able to get together in the field and have this beautiful day to...cap off the year that was kind of unknown at first is really good,” she said.
While the last couple of months were hard, she realized how much she likes going to school. As much as she would have complained about going to class every day, she's talked to her friends and agree they're never saying that again.
Writing her valedictorian speech, Steinbrunner tried not to focus on everything they've missed on this year. Instead, she focused on everything that their four years was.
“Overall it was just to take with us everything that we learned when we were at RM. The lessons we’ve learned from our great teachers and coaches and admin and counsellors. And also the memories because when I think of Roland Michener I think of incredible spirit and team work and those are the greatest lessons that I have learned while I was there,” she said.
Though there were great lessons in the classroom, she talked about the experiences they had outside the class room.
The high school, she said, is super spirited and competitive.
She said sporting events at the school are unparallelled.
“When we host a sporting event it’s something to be seen in our gym, we have pom poms everywhere, everyone’s in the gym when the home team is playing on home court, it’s loud, it’s awesome," she recalled.
Next year, Steinbrunner is going to Western University in the faculty of social science with an undecided major. With COVID-19 her first semester is being done at home.
