'Joyful and beautiful': N.W.T. students celebrate graduations

Grade 12 students in the N.W.T. are bidding their high schools farewell this month. Graduation ceremonies across the territory have been taking place and as students are finishing one stage of their lives, they are also being propelled toward the next one.   

In Behchokǫ̀, 33 students walked across the stage in their blue gowns and caps to accept their diplomas. While it wasn't the largest number of graduates Chief Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School has seen, principal Dianne Lafferty said that the graduating class was "larger than normal." 

Of the graduating students, 11 will be attending university, two are joining the military, and the remaining number will be working or travelling next year. 

Further north, Colville Lake is also celebrating their students. Five have graduated and three will be pursuing post-secondary education either in Yellowknife or Alberta. 

Jayden Kochon, 22, graduated last Friday from Colville Lake School. It wasn't always something he thought would happen; Kochon dropped out of school when he was 15 years old in order to get a job. 

"I didn't expect to be up there seeing all those people in front of me, especially my parents, the smiles on their faces and the joy in their expression," Kochon said.

"It was a feeling I can't explain, but it was one of the most joyful and beautiful moments of my life." 

After five years as a heavy equipment operator, a local water truck driver and working at a store, he decided to re-enroll and complete his diploma. He knew that going back to high school would be the best option to pursue a future he wanted with a "better job and opportunities." 

Now graduated, he will be moving to Alberta for a pre-employment welding program at Lakeland College. 

Paige Kochon, 18, also completed her Grade 12 year at Colville Lake School. She will be moving to Yellowknife to attend Aurora College in the fall for a bachelor of science in nursing. She decided to pursue nursing after witnessing a need in her own hometown. 

"We don't have a constant nurse here. The nurses we do have here are really basic trained and aren't qualified to give out medication," Kochon said. "I just have a little problem with that." 

While she's not exactly sure where she'll end up once she finishes her degree, she said her main focus will be her home community, Colville Lake. 

In Tulita, people celebrated a monumental year as 12 students stood on stage wearing white caps and flowing gowns. This year marks the second largest graduating class in the history of Chief Albert Wright School and one of the largest graduating classes in the entire Sahtu region, according to Marshall Menacho, one of the recent graduates. 

Menacho, 16, will be attending the University of Toronto in the fall for a mathematics degree. He credits his love of the topic to his physics and math teacher, Bethaney Porter, who taught him from Inuvik through the territory's virtual Northern Distance Learning program. 

Online learning came "with its own challenges," Menacho said. "But I was able to do it and I had brilliant teachers, especially my math and physics teacher.

"She really did inspire me to pursue math."