Life is a Highway: Rimbey Jr/Sr High celebrates Class of 2025
The graduating class of 2025 crossed the stage in front of family and community, celebrating their accomplishments and the years of support that brought them there. Held Sept.19 at the Peter Lougheed Centre in Rimbey, the ceremony was guided by the graduation theme Life is a Highway, culminating this stage of the journey.
Principal Bill Bramfield welcomed families, staff, and students by emphasizing the long journey graduates had completed.
“It comes back to two simple, powerful ideas. You showed up, and you stayed,” Bramfield said.
“Your high school diploma is more than a piece of paper. It is proof, evidence that you can be counted on, you can follow through, that you are capable of showing up, staying the course, and doing hard things.”
He also reminded graduates to be grateful for the families, classmates, and staff who helped them along the way, noting that “the memories made here, with the people beside you, will linger long after the ceremony.”
Representing the Wolf Creek Public Schools Board of Trustees, Trustee Trudy Bratland highlighted the outstanding achievement of this year’s graduates.
“Your final years in education may have been challenging, but you and your support systems have overcome those challenges and are part of this awesome statistic of a 100% success rate of Grade 12 students this year,” Bratland said.
She praised the grad theme as an inspiring choice:
“It is a timeless message. The song speaks to the strength to rise above troubles, maintain strong relationships, and resilience, traits that we wish for all of you.”
WCPS Superintendent Tim De Ruyck also connected the theme to the road ahead, reminding graduates that life’s path will bring both smooth stretches and rough patches.
“In my office, I have a picture of bamboo trees with the caption: ‘You will be bent by the winds of change, but your resilience will ensure you will not be broken.’ That’s true for all of us,” De Ruyck said.
“Having fun and enjoying that ride down the highway is important, and the journey is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Along with the remarks from Bramfield, Bratland, and De Ruyck, the ceremony also featured a touching salute to the graduates, and to parents and staff, as well as greetings from MLA Jason Nixon and Rimbey Mayor Rick Pankiw, who joined families and staff in applauding the accomplishments of the graduates.
As Bramfield reminded them: “Congratulations, Class of 2025. No one can ever take this achievement away from you. We are proud of you, we believe in you, and we can’t wait to see where your highway leads.”
— Written by: Vince Burke, WCPS Communications Coordinator