Deloraine School graduates are looking forward to the end of this week, which marks the finale to their K-12 school years, and the beginning of the next adventures of their lives!

Principal, Tony Franklin, says he's excited for the Friday convocation ceremony where the twelve Grade 12 graduates will receive their diplomas and celebrate with friends and family their many accomplishments.

"It's an exciting time for the graduates and their families, especially kids and families that might be their first child that's graduating and also if it happens to be their youngest child graduating it always carries a little extra emotion with it," shares Franklin.

Mr. Franklin became principal of Deloraine School in the 2010-'11 school year and has seen many graduation classes.  He taught school in Brandon, Melita and then Deloraine over his teaching career.

"So, I have seen this graduating class the whole way through," notes Franklin with a laugh, "and they've gained some students and they've lost some because families have moved away. But the majority of them have been here since day one so it's been quite a journey."

"I wish them all the best," he shares. "To me it's not about preparing them with the reading and the writing skills and all the specifics that you need to take a post-secondary education, or move on to a trade or whatever that may be, but more importantly I hope they look back when they learned to become a better person, a good citizen, the importance of giving back to a small community and I just hope they look fondly on their years at Deloraine School." 

Of this graduating class 9 of the 12 students are furthering their education through post-secondary education.  And the group is diverse when it comes to career paths, from computer science to nursing, from coast guard marine engineering to education in the agriculture industry.

"If there is something that we can improve on in small towns, and our small town it would be career exploration and career development and there are so many different areas out there and it's important to encourage kids not to get channeled in the traditional areas of earning an income in southwestern Manitoba," says Franklin. "So, I really see this group reaching out and looking for new and exciting alternatives."

Please listen to more with Mr. Franklin below as he shares more on this class of Graduates and their upcoming ceremony.

The Deloraine School Graduation ceremony takes place this Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm at the school gym.