GRADitude Tour!

It is a tour of celebration, a tour of thanks, and a tour of inspiration.

For several years now, graduating students at Salmon Arm Secondary have been taking part in what will hopefully be a new tradition – a GRADitude Tour! This year Pleasant Valley Secondary also introduced it.

The idea behind the tour is so that the grads can give thanks to the people and places that supported them to this milestone, explains SAS vice-principal Noah Ralston. It gives grads the opportunity to reflect on how far they have come, perhaps check out school photos of themselves on the walls of their elementary school, wear their cap and gown, and further mark this rite of passage.

“It also acts as a way to inspire younger students to see that they too can graduate.  It is a chance for elementary teachers to get photos and see their former students and likewise the grads their previous teachers.”

Pleasant Valley Secondary School also organized a “Grad”itude tour with PVSS graduates visiting their elementary and middle schools the day before graduation, on June 14.  “Graduates went to Armstrong Elementary, Highland Park Elementary, Falkland Elementary, and Len Wood Middle school.  This is a great opportunity for the grads to thank staff that have helped them on their school journey as well as to serve as an example for the younger students in our community,” comments principal Steve Drapala. 

Ralston explains that at SAS the grads are divided onto six school buses which each touring two or three schools that are feeder schools to Salmon Arm Secondary. “At least one of the schools will be a school that the graduate attended.” Students spent approximately 25 minutes at each school.

The grads spent some time together on the buses and somewhere along the trip they get to stop at least once for a treat (such as a freezie or ice cream).  During their visits to the school they might walk through the hallways lined with younger students and give high fives.  They might also go into classes and answer questions, or join the school leaving ceremony and cheer on the oldest students at the school as they prepare to move on to the next step of their educational journey. At some schools they went outside and played basketball and 4 square with the younger students or, if the visit coincided with a school fun day, they went and cheered on the runners.

“It really was a wonderful experience for our students as well,” adds Carlin Elementary Middle School vice-principal Sandra Major. “So fun and inspiring.”