Students in École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge’s 2025 graduating class celebrated the official end of their high school careers on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21), crossing the stage to mark the completion of their diplomas.
Forty students returned to the high school for an afternoon ceremony that saw $28,300 worth of community-sponsored awards from close to 30 local businesses, municipalities and community organizations, distributed in recognition of their academic, athletic and leadership achievements over their time at ESSC.
Litchfield native Léa LaSalle delivered the valedictorian speech, which she was invited to do because she received an overall average of 92 per cent in her Sec 4 and Sec 5 years, the highest average in her graduating class.
“Our high school journey began in a very unusual way,” she said in her French address to her former classmates. “In 2020, we started high school in the midst of a pandemic. It was certainly not the start we had imagined. However, this period taught us independence and the importance of helping each other. We learned to adapt and persevere. [ . . . ] Today, we leave high school with dreams, ambitions, and the desire to continue learning and pushing ourselves.”
Beyond being named the valedictorian, LaSalle also received seven other bursaries in recognition of her academic success, as well as the Governor General’s Academic Medal which honours academic excellence from students across the country.
“I studied a lot so I’m happy they recognized my hard work,” she said. Now in her first year of nursing studies at the University of Ottawa, LaSalle is also a recipient of a MacLachlan Family Bursary, created to support nursing students with plans to practice in the Pontiac.
“Science was always my favourite subject in school, and I was always most fascinated by the human body, so I knew I wanted to do something in health. I chose nursing because it offers a lot of different specialties and I can explore different areas of healthcare and find what I like most.”
Several other notable awards were also given out during Saturday’s ceremony. Anthony Romain received the Erick-Bouchard In Memoriam Award for his perseverance and tenacity in completing his high school diploma, and Phillipe Graveline won the Michael Kirkham in Memoriam Award, created to honour the former ESSC teacher who passed away in 2021. The award recognizes students who keep his memory alive through community leadership, dedication to school sports, and strong team spirit.
