Willow Creek Composite High School celebrates graduation

By Rob Vogt

Ben Baker likened finishing high school to the first stage of a Waterton hike.
“We have done it, we are graduates,” said the valedictorian for the 2025 graduating class at Willow Creek Composite High School at their ceremony on June 7.
He thought back to when the class entered the school in Grade 7. Like a hike, they wondered why were they doing this, and that it will take forever.
There were hardships too. In a hike, it may be a stubbed toe, a bear sighting or a bee sting.
For Baker’s class, it was COVID. Through Grade 7 and 8, at times they were at home and behind masks.
Yet, they accomplished a lot as well. He said there is no feeling like finishing a diploma exam, for example.
But this is just the beginning.
“There’s a lot left,” Baker said.
Like a hike, the class has come to the trail head. Like a trail revealing itself before hikers, there is so much left in store for everyone in the class.
“The thing is, everyone can hike,” Baker said. “The trick is to keep moving.”
He noted any goal can be achieved.
“The trick is belief,” Baker said.
“You have to have a belief and work hard because it won’t be easy,” he later added.
Grad Emmitt Carlson paid tribute to the parents.
“The grads are here because of you,” he said.
“They are here because you helped guide them,” he later added.
Carlson, who was voted by his peers to give the address, urged everyone to seize the day because they control their own destiny.
“There are no dress rehearsals, this is our life,” he said.
The ceremony opened with the national anthem by Armani Scott; land acknowledgment by Hannah Leader; and Blackfoot blessing by Piikani Elder Peter Strikes With a Gun and student Phoenix Fox.
Trustee Brad Toone, himself a graduate of the school, brought greetings from the Livingstone Range School Division.
He said it felt like just yesterday the students were starting school.
“Look at them now, ready to take on the world,” he said.
They have shown resilience, dedication, and the ability to find wifi in the most difficult spots.
“The real world is a lot like high school,” Toone said. “Except with more taxes and less homework.”
He pointed out they will meet challenges.
“So go out there and make us proud,” Toone said.
Chelsae Petrovic, MLA for Livingstone-Macleod, and also a graduate of the school, commended the parents, then turned her attention to the students.
“You’re the ones who make the day meaningful,” she said. “You’ve grown together, struggled together, shared together.”
She emphasized every student has their own path.
“Whatever your talent is – own it,” she said.
Petrovic added a person’s value is not based on their job title, or money.
“It’s measured on how you treat others,” she said.
Petrovic urged every student to go out there to be bold and be kind.

More grad coverage in this week’s edition of the Claresholm Local Press