LAC LA BICHE - Aloe Manalese has been preparing to represent the 2023 J. A. Williams High School grad class her entire high school career. Carleigh Reid was pleasantly surprised last week when she was told she was École Plamondon’s Class of 2023 valedictorian.
The JAWS grad and the École Plamondon convocation took place on the same day, last Saturday, just a few hours apart in each community. The valedictorian addresses were key parts of both convocation ceremonies.
There are many ways to be bestowed the honour of valedictorian, but by far, the easiest route - and one shared by the two young women speaking on behalf of their graduating classmates - is through maintaining consistently high grades and being immersed in various school-based clubs, activities, and sports.
Manalese has excelled in math and the sciences at JAWS.
“Out of all my subjects, I find biology the most interesting,” she stated. “I’m fascinated by how bodily functions and chemical processes work in the body.”
A curiosity for all things biological has prompted her to sign up for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Alberta, where she will be attending in September.
But it’s not just the textbooks that got the teen through her high school years. Her athletic prowess as an accomplished volleyball and badminton player has taken her to more than one provincial championship in her school years. And those sporting connections helped with friendship connections.
Some of her best memories from the past three years are of spending time with her teammates. Manalese says the teamwork and camaraderie in sports benefited her studies. She mentioned the classroom and court connection in her valedictorian speech at the JAWS graduation ceremony last Saturday at the Bold Center. That speech, she said with a laugh, was harder than most sporting games or class tests she had in high school.
“Ironically enough, even though my grades in math and science were high, I struggled with English, which made writing my speech somewhat challenging,” she admitted.
École Plamondon honours
As Manalese was making best of her self-described “short, but sweet” valedictorian address, Carleigh Reid was in Plamondon getting her own nerves in check before her address to the École Plamondon School Class of 2023.
Like her counterpart in Lac La Biche, Reid has also excelled in the sciences during her time at École Plamondon. Reid was a regular on the high school sports teams. She has been an active member of the school’s volleyball, badminton, and curling squads over her high school years.
Unlike Manalese, however, who set her sights on the valedictorian role from an early age, Reid didn’t know she was the choice of her class and school staff until just a few days before the convocation ceremony. In fact, when she was called from class to the school’s office a little over a week ago, she was a bit nervous about the “out of the blue” summons. The thought that she had just been nominated to represent the class of 2023 the furthest thing from her mind. When she heard the news, she was excited … and then nervous.
“At first, I was thrilled — then I became slightly less excited when it dawned on me that I would have to write a speech and actually speak in front of others,” she told Lakeland This Week, explaining herself as a reserved person who generally shied away from public speaking, apart from the odd classroom project.
Despite her fears — and motivated by advice she received from family and friends — Reid sat down to write a speech that encompassed shared experiences she has undergone with her classmates. She also wrote about how she was inspired by teachers and coaches.
Her valedictorian address received loud applause from classmates, family, friends, and school staff at Saturday’s convocation ceremony inside Plamondon’s Festival Place.
Now that she’s said goodbye to 12 years of study at École Plamondon, what’s next in her list of future plans? Reid says she is heading to the University of Alberta this fall to begin work on a Bachelor of Science degree, with the long-term goal of becoming an optometrist. The future eye doctor said that looking back on her Plamondon high school years, she had a great experience. There was hard work and challenges to overcome, but that made the journey more worthwhile. Sport helped too, she said with a grin.
“I feel as though I found a way to enjoy my school years. Playing sports made it that much more fun.”
About 130 students — Just over 90 from JAWS, about 30 from École Plamondon and some from the Lac La Biche Regional Off Campus School — took part in high school convocation ceremonies in Lac La Biche and Plamondon over the weekend.
* With files from Rob McKinley
